The Australian sharemarket is flat at midday in the wake of a record session on United States markets overnight.
“It is fairly flat but not a bad effort,” Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said.
“We had a pretty good curtain-raiser last night from overseas markets, so there was no reason for us to backtrack today.”
Overnight, the broad-based S&P 500 index in the United States reached a new high, gaining 0.49 per cent to 1854.29 points, passing the previous high mark set in January.
Buyers pushed up stocks, helped by a cautiously positive view of the US economy from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
On the local market on Friday at 1200 AEDT, supermarket operator Woolworths had fallen 66.5 cents to $35.755 despite lifting its first half profit by 14.5 per cent amid solid sales growth.
Mr Heffernan described Woolworths’ financial results as “workman-like”.
Woolworths’ profit was up and the outlook was good, but given that its shares had had a good run upwards of late, its share price was easing back today, he said.
Airline Virgin Australia descended 0.25 cents to 34.75 cents after it reported a first half loss of $83.7 million as it fights to take market share from rival Qantas.
Qantas lifted 0.5 cents to $1.16 amid fallout from Thursday’s news that it would axe 5,000 jobs, freeze wages, retire old planes, and slash capital spending and some routes – all to reduce costs.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was 15.5 cents higher at $38.535, Rio Tinto climbed 83 cents to $67.43, and Fortescue Metals edged up 0.5 cents to $5.505.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank eased 19 cents to $75.01, Westpac sagged 9.5 cents to $33.445, ANZ dipped 2.5 cents to $32.125, and National Australia Bank shed 10 cents to $34.72.
KEY FACTS
* At 1208 AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was four points, or 0.07 per cent, lower at 5,393.0 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 3.9 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 5,417.1 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was three points lower at 5,393 points, with 15,557 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 757.06 million securities worth $3.85 billion.
