The Australian stockmarket has pushed its way into positive territory after a soft lead from overseas saw it start the local session in the red.
The local market started the day on the back foot in the wake of Thursday’s disappointing Chinese manufacturing figures, which caused a sell off both here and overseas.
But IG Markets dealer Chris Weston said stocks had managed to eke out some gains by noon.
“Hopefully people are just seeing that the sell off in emerging markets is a little bit overdone,” he said.
The resources sector was stronger at noon, with BHP Billiton up 16 cents to $37.20, while Rio Tinto was 72 cents higher at $65.39.
Iron ore miner Fortescue was steady at $5.24 while gold miner Newcrest gained 56 cents to $9.69 following a rise in the gold price.
The major banks were mostly lower, with Westpac down three cents to $31.41 and ANZ 23 cents lower at $30.82, while National Australia Bank lost eight cents to $34.08 and Commonwealth Bank one cent higher at $75.14.
Meanwhile, shares in The Reject Shop plunged $4, or 24 per cent, to $12.90 following a disappointing sales result.
Disappointing US sales also took the shine off a record profit result from medical device maker ResMed, with its shares down 28 cents, or more than five per cent, to $4.98.
Shares in engineering group Forge, which last traded at 90 cents, have gone into a trading halt pending an announcement by the company.
Agricultural chemicals and seeds supplier Nufarm dumped seven cents to $4.10 after announcing it expected to meet its first half guidance but towards the lower end of the range.
Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory shed 6.5 cents to $9.41 after Murray Goulburn sold its 17.7 per cent shareholding to Canadian diary giant Saputo.
KEY FACTS
* At 1210 AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 8.8 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 5,271.8 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 8.2 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 5,283.7 points.
* The March share price index futures contract was one point lower at 5,227 points, with 14,755 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 813 million securities worth $1.5 billion.
