The Australian share market was little changed at lunchtime as weakness in the big banks cancelled modest gains for mining stocks.
At 1pm, the ASX 200 was down 1 point or 0.03% at 4895. The metals & mining sector rallied 0.4% but financials were modestly lower at -0.3%.
"Overall, the financials are a bit weaker, with Macquarie Group down a bit," Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan told AAP.
Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens has tried to dampen booming property prices by appearing on commercial television this morning for the first time, warning of further interest rate rises. Mr Stevens said interest rates will move towards 'more normal levels', nearer five per cent.
"We cut interest rates to what we called emergency settings when we had an emergency, when we thought we really were going to face a big downturn and we wanted to try and get ahead of that," he said. "Once the emergency's passed and things gradually look more normal, then it's not wise to leave interest rates down at rock bottom any longer than you need."
Analysts described Mr Stevens' decision to break protocol and be interviewed on commercial television as a clear sign the Reserve Bank was worried about soaring property prices.
However, new data released this morning showed new home sales fell everywhere except Victoria last month. Nationally, the volume of sales dipped 5.2% following a 9.5% rise in January, the Housing Industry Association said. Victoria bucked the trend with a 16% increase in sales.
Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei was pulled 0.53% off Friday's one-year high by a wave of stocks going ex-dividend but Shanghai added 1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.45%. Dow futures were recently at +15.
Oil and gold switched directions this morning. Crude oil futures rallied 39 cents or 0.5% to $80.39 a barrel. The spot gold price was $3.40 off Friday's New York close at $1,103.30 an ounce.
A sluggish morning of scant opportunities for this trader. Just the one trade completed - TGS on the bounce for half a day's wage. If I had to describe this year so far I'd call it "The Big Sleep".
