The Australian share market is lower at noon as the Paris terror attacks create uncertainty and trepidation among investors.

Only the gold stocks were performing strongly, with Newcrest Mining up five per cent, Evolution Mining up four per cent and Regis Resources up 3.75 per cent.

Gold is considered a strong defensive stock, providing stability and returns amid uncertainty.

Elsewhere among commodities, results were mixed, with BHP Billiton up one per cent while Rio Tinto was down about two per cent.

The big banks were all lower.

And Telstra was moderately, or 0.4 per cent, higher.

Volumes and values of trade were lower than average.

KEY FACTS

* At 1200 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 30.6 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 5,020.7 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 30.9 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 5,080.9 points.

* The December share price index futures contract was down 17 points at 5,017 points, with 19,093 contracts traded.

* At 1204 AEDT, national turnover was 936 million securities worth $1.6 billion.