The Australian share market ended Friday and the week flat after a recovery on the back of the Greek bailout agreement ran out of puff.

The big banks lost ground on Friday after the solid gains made earlier in the week in the wake of Greece’s parliament voting in favour of tough austerity measures.

Bell Potter Securities senior client advisor Stuart Smith said the market had flattened out after a strong couple of days.

“This is the market letting out its breath… ” he said.

Jamie Elgar from Burrell Stockbroking agreed, saying it was a consolidation period.

“It wasn’t a bad day on the ASX, considering the size of this week’s rebound.

“Flat markets overseas also would have brought the market down.”

Mr Elgar said he believed the earnings season next month would be the next big driver of the Australian stock market.

Among the big miners, BHP Billiton was up two cents, or 0.07 per cent, at $27.10, Rio Tinto lost 30 cents, or 0.56 per cent, to $53.01, and Fortescue Metals Group fell 3.5 cents, or two per cent, to $1.715.

In the banking sector, ANZ was down 20 cents at $32.44, Commonwealth Bank rose two cents to $87.98, National Australia Bank gained two cents to $34.34, and Westpac was lower by six cents to $34.57.

In company news, grocery wholesaler Metcash rose 11 cents, or 10.43 per cent, to $1.165 after announcing the recruitment of two former senior Coles and Woolworths executives to help lead its turnaround efforts.

KEY FACTS

* On Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 0.5 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 5670.1 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was higher 2.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 5652.5 points.

* The September share price index futures contract lost five points at 5617 points, with 19,542 contracts traded at 1716 AEST.

* National turnover was 1.63 billion securities worth $3.98 billion.