ASX treads water as miners, banks drag

THE Australian sharemarket finished flat after a late sell-off, held back by weakness in resources and bank stocks.

The ASX200 index closed 6.2 points lower at 7374.9, while the All Ordinaries Index lifted just 0.5 points to 7690.2.

CommSec analyst Steven Daghlian said the local bourse had a slow start then surged, hitting a three-week high before slumping in late trade.

Rio Tinto weakened 3.25 per cent to $98.15, Fortescue shed 1.22 per cent to $14.56 and BHP backtracked 2.04 per cent to $38.39 after reporting its September quarter production results, with iron ore output down by 4 per cent due to maintenance and labour shortages.

Output of other commodities also fell but petroleum – a business it is hiving off to Woodside as it exits fossil fuels – was up 3 per cent.

In the banking sector, ANZ eased 0.32 per cent to $28.15, Commonwealth Bank fell 0.05 per cent to $103.89, National Australia Bank slipped 0.49 per cent to $28.65 and Westpac lost 0.39 per cent to $25.48.

Telstra dipped 1.03 per cent to $3.83.