The Australian stockmarket is flat following a weak lead from Wall Street and ahead of the Reserve Bank’s monthly interest rate decision.
Rivkin global analyst Tim Radford said the local market was taking its lead from the US, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all ended the session lower.
“There is a bit of downward pressure on the market as a follow-on from the US,” he said.
He said he expected the market to remain lower during the morning session but likely would move higher over the coming days.
“With the ASX200 hitting that long-term support level of between 5,200 and 5,250 (points) I think there will be renewed buying interest moving in soon,” he said.
Mr Radford said the key event for Australian investors on Tuesday would be the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monthly interest rate decision at 1430 AEDT.
The central bank is widely expected to keep the cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent.
The big four banks were mixed on Tuesday, with Westpac down nine cents to $32.51, Commonwealth shedding eight cents to 76.77 and ANZ five cents worse off at $31.80. But National Australia Bank had lifted nine cents to $34.40.
Telstra was four cents lower at $5.02.
Global mining giant BHP Billiton was down 18 cents at $36.72 while rival Rio Tinto had gained one cent to $65.86.
Iron ore miner Fortescue was flat at $5.57 cents, while gold miner Newcrest was 43 cents higher at $7.33.
KEY FACTS
* At 1030 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down four points, or 0.08 per cent, at 5,275.5.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 4.7 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,268.8.
* The December share price index futures contract was three points lower at 5,283 with 9,266 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 366 million securities worth $879 million.
