Australian shares were flat at midday as commodity prices lost ground and tech earnings out of the United States underwhelmed.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 4.1 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 7,967 at midday on Wednesday, with the broader All Ordinaries losing 1.7 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 8,206.9.
The energy sector was performing the worst, down 1.1 per cent, reflecting softer oil prices, with the Brent crude around a near six-week low of under $US82 a barrel.
Woodside was on track for its fourth day of losses, down 0.9 per cent to a four-week low of $27.27.
Wall Street was cautious heading into tech earnings, with underwhelming results from Tesla and Alphabet likely to dampen sentiment.
Betting markets were still expecting a Republican sweep of US Congress under Donald Trump even after Democrat President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the electoral race.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the scenario would be supportive of the US healthcare sector, with Australian stocks buoyed by the “Trump Trade” tailwinds.
BHP was up 0.12 per cent, Fortescue gained 0.94 per cent, and Rio Tinto increased 0.38 per cent.
The big banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank down 0.2 per cent, ANZ falling 0.7 per cent, Westpac up 0.3 per cent and NAB gaining 0.4 per cent.
Flight Centre was down 4.3 per cent, to $22, after amending its profit range to between $316 million and $324 million, narrowing its range of guidance from $300 million to $340 million.
The Australian dollar sank to its lowest level in more than six weeks, buying 66.06 US cents, from 66.26 US cents in Tuesday’s ASX close.