Australian stocks have opened flat, with market players sitting on the sidelines ahead of an interest rate decision from the central bank.
Market players looked past a positive lead from Wall Street, where US stocks rallied strongly and commodities prices rose.
Bell Potter senior client adviser Stuart Smith said all eyes were on the Reserve Bank of Australia, given its upcoming decision on interest rates due at 1430 AEST on Tuesday.
"You have probably got a juggling act going on with one ball going up in the air saying 'rate cut' and the other ball going up saying 'steady as she goes'," Mr Smith said.
"In any good circumstance we would probably be down 10 points anyway just waiting."
The RBA cash rate sits at 2.75 per cent.
Gains from mining-related companies were offset by weakness in the financial sector.
Materials stocks were up 0.6 per cent, with BHP having risen 13 cents to $34.22 and Rio up 83 cents at $54.63.
By contrast, Three of Australia's big four retail banks were also in negative territory.
ANZ was down 1 cent at $27.84, CBA had dipped 31 cents to $66.61 and Westpac was 14 cents weaker at $28.86.
Bucking the trend was NAB, which had advanced 9 cents to $29.39.
Making news on Tuesday, the Ten Network has confirmed it will broadcast the local Twenty20 cricket tournament for the next five years.
While Ten said the terms of the deal were confidential, media report suggested the free-to-air network paid about $100 million for the broadcast rights.
Ten was steady at 29 cents.
KEY FACTS
* At 1019 AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 5.3 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 4,883 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 4.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 4,869.3 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was down one point at 4,884 points, with 10,493 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 162.6 million securities worth $334.7 million.
