Regional markets were little changed at lunchtime as Greece's overnight credit downgrade put a dampener on last week's strong rebound in equities.
At 1pm the ASX 200 was down 4 points or 0.1% at 4501 as losses among resource-sensitive sectors outweighed gains in financials, property trusts and IT.
"It's been in the red for most of the morning," Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan told Fairfax websites. "But when you move within 1 per cent it's no big deal these days, certainly when you've had volatility of 3 per cent movements at times."
Interest rates are unlikely to rise before August after the minutes from the last Reserve Bank meeting showed the central bank remains cautious about overseas developments. The RBA said debt problems in Europe "would inevitably weigh on prospects for global growth" and said previous hikes in the cash rate "afforded policy flexibility to await information on how the recent market uncertainty might affect the global economy, as well as news about the outlook for inflation".
Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.18%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.01% stronger. Shanghai was closed for a holiday. Dow futures were recently at +26.
Crude oil futures rallied 36 cents this morning to $75.13 a barrel. The spot gold price was 30 cents stronger at $1,221.30 an ounce.
A stodgy morning of few opportunities. Caught ILU on the bounce. Just missed NMS at 21.5 and didn't chase. Added NWSLV for a speculative overnight hold - buying down-days has been reliable lately.
