Shares pared early gains as a new bank tax cast a pall over the last session of a downbeat week.
The ASX 200 was three points or less than 0.1% ahead at 5709 at the halfway mark after rising as high as 5723 in early action. The financials sector was the biggest drag on the index, falling 0.5% as analysts fretted that South Australia's decision to join the federal government in imposing a new levy on the big banks might prompt other states to follow suit.
"We see the current challenging political landscape as an ongoing drag on sentiment for Australian banks and the market. This uncertainty is likely to result in share-price pressures and higher cost of capital for Australian corporates," one analyst warned.
The hit to the big banks offset a positive morning for the metals & mining sector +1%, health +0.9% and telecoms +0.7%. The index fell sharply through Tuesday and Wednesday and looks set to close almost 100 points in the red for the week.
A flat session on Wall Street overnight did little to inspire Asia. China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.12%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei edged down 0.01%. Dow futures were recently ahead by 22 points or 0.1%.
Crude oil futures added another nine cents or 0.21% this morning to US$42.83 a barrel. Gold futures put on $2.50 or 0.2% to US$1,251.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 75.47 US cents.
Trading: Friday has always tended to be the slowest day of the week, which in a slow market makes for low expectations. Set a lot of lowball offers this morning without success. Small entry in CHP, but there's a big seller dumping hard.
