The Australian market hovered near flat for the morning session until the release of February CPI data at 11.30am which then nudged the market into slight positive territory.
The S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.2% higher as midday approached.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The February CPI number was steady at 3.4% unchanged from the previous month but lower than consensus forecasts of 3.5%. Markets will now turn their attention to tomorrow’s monthly retail sales number.
In company news today Platinum Asset Management shares were trading over 20% lower after the asset manager announced that the firm had lost $1.4 billion in mandated funds from an undisclosed client. APM Human Services has been placed into a trading halt. The company said it requested the trading halt following the receipt of a letter from private equity firm CVC Capital Markets, advising that it was unable to proceed to finalise a transaction on terms consistent with their non-binding offer as disclosed to the ASX on February 28.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Staples, up 1.08 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Information Technology, down 0.87 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), trading 2.27 per cent higher at $6.32. It is followed by shares in Brambles (ASX:BXB) and GQG Partners (ASX:GQG).
The worst-performing large cap is Incitec Pivot (ASX:IPL), trading 2.57 per cent lower at $2.845. It is followed by shares in WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) and Premier Investments (ASX:PMV).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2198.30 an ounce.
Iron ore is 4.2 per cent lower at US$104.20 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.5 per cent fall.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.24 US cents.
