The Australian sharemarket finished flat on Tuesday after the All Ordinaries index pushed through the significant 5000 point barrier earlier in the day.
At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 0.5 points, or 0.01 per cent, down at 4,959 while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 1.2 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 4,981.5.
On the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was nine points higher at 4,928 with 19,235 contracts traded.
CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said investors were positioning ahead of the release of major company reports later in the week.
“We have had some good earnings reports coming through so far, with Bradken today after JB HiFi yesterday,” Ms Saly said.
“We had a positive start, but it was encouraging to see the market push through that 5000 point level on the All Ordinaries Index in early trade despite the fact that we saw falls on US and Europe markets overnight.”
Rio Tinto, Commonwealth Bank, Wesfarmers and Westfield are due to report later in the week.
“There’s a lot of hope that these results will be better than what analysts had predicted,” she said.
Financial stocks finished mixed, with CBA shares up 40 cents, or 0.61 per cent, at $65.52.
Westpac was down 21 cents at $27.75, ANZ was down 21 cents at $27.56 and NAB was 16 cents lower at $28.93.
Resources stocks were also lower, after falls in commodity prices.
Rio Tinto was down 42 cents at $69.03 and BHP Billiton was 12 cents lower at $37.59.
Gold miner Newcrest was down 48 cents, or 2 per cent, at $23.67.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,643.30 per fine ounce, down $US24.91 from Monday’s local close of $US1,668.21 per ounce.
Making news on Tuesday, industrial equipment maker Bradken’s first half profit rose by nine per cent to $46.7 million.
Its shares were up 67 cents, or 11 per cent, at $6.77.
Shares in Whitehaven Coal also rose after its Maules Creek mine in NSW received conditional environmental approval.
Whitehaven was up 23 cents, or 7.7 per cent, at $3.19.
National turnover 1.4 billion securities worth $3.3 billion, with 498 stocks up, 495 down and 364 unchanged.
