The Australian share market has hauled itself out of its red to be flat at midday, but retail, energy, utilities and telcos are the only sectors in the green.

December 5, 2017

A bounce in retail stocks following a softer-than-expected launch for Amazon is one of the few bright spots in a flat Australian market at midday.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 stock index was down 5.3 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,980.3 points at 1200 AEDT, with retail, energy, utilities and telco the only sectors in positive territory.

The big four banks were still lower but had recovered some of their early losses.

Westpac led the group, down 0.8 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank had fallen 0.47 per cent, ANZ was 0.56 per cent weaker, and National Australia Bank had lost 0.7 per cent.

Mining stocks were also lower, with Rio Tinto down 1.44 per cent and BHP Billiton losing 0.75 per cent, despite a rise in the iron ore price.

South32 bucked the trend, climbing 5.67 per cent to $3.445 after the miner flagged lower output and higher unit costs at its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal operations in NSW.

The energy sector was up with oil prices remaining close to recent two-year highs thanks to OPEC’s decision last week to extend output cuts.

Oil Search was 1.6 per cent better off, Woodside Petroleum was up 0.6 per cent, although Santos was down 0.5 per cent.

Better-than-expected retail spending figures for October pushed retailers higher, and Amazon’s softer-than-expected Australia launch boosted sentiment in the sector.

Consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi was up 0.9 per cent at $24.31, furniture and electrical goods retailer Harvey Norman climbed two per cent to $4.08, and department store chain Myer gained 1.3 per cent to 78 cents.

However, Wesfarmers slid 0.33 per cent to $43.775, and rival Woolworths fell 0.22 per cent to $26.79.

Telstra’s shares have hit a one-month high – up 2.43 per cent to $3.585 – after analysts upgraded the telco to a buy rating, saying the temporary halt of the rollout of the national broadband network will be “modestly financially positive”.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has inched up against a rallying greenback.

The local currency was trading at 76.27 US cents at 1200 AEDT on Tuesday, from 75.97 US cents on Monday.

ON THE ASX:

* At 1200 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 5.3 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,980.3 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 5.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 6,065.2 points.

* The SPI200 futures contract was down 8 points or 0.13 per cent at 5988 points.

* National turnover was 2.51 billion securities traded worth $1.78 billion.