The Australian sharemarket has finished flat ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
RBS Morgans dealer Michael Cooper said investors were initially buoyed by a positive US lead and firm local data.
But the index retreated later in the day as the world’s biggest economy prepares for a public holiday.
“The market has been fairly flat and quiet because of the Thanksgiving holiday coming up tonight,” Mr Cooper said.
“The banks are stronger again and the resources companies are mostly weaker.”
The US market will be closed on Thursday (US time) and markets will close for a half day on Friday.
Australian business investment rose by 3.6 per cent in the September quarter, which may mean there won’t be a central bank interest rate cut in the coming months.
The initial reaction to capital expenditure data was mildly positive.
A reasonable performance among financial stocks helped to balance losses among the miners and mining services companies.
Commonwealth Bank rose 72 cents to $78.02, Westpac was 23 cents higher at $33.00, National Australia Bank was up five cents to $34.54 but ANZ dropped four cents to $32.04.
Among the big miners, BHP Billiton was six cents weaker at $37.19, while Rio Tinto had gained 12 cents to $64.42 and Fortescue Metals was flat at $5.65.
Gold miner Newcrest fell eight cents to $7.69.
Shares in engineering firm Forge Group plunged, shedding $3.50, or 83.6 per cent, to 68.5 cents after it came out of a four week trading halt flagging heavy financial losses and writedowns.
Specialty Fashion Group rose four cents to 83 cents after it announced the purchase of clothing brand Rivers.
Takeover target Warrnambool Cheese and Butter was seven cents higher at $9.32 after suitor Murray Goulburn lifted its offer to $9.50.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 1.7 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,326.6 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 1.4 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,334.3.
* The December share price index futures contract was two points lower at 5,348, with 20,270 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.6 billion securities worth $13.7 billion.
