A late afternoon rally among the big four banks has lifted the Australian share market out of the red.
A late afternoon rally among the big four banks has lifted the Australian share market out of the red.
At 1615 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 5.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,552.8 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 5.1 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,516.6 points.
The March share price index futures contract was up 15 points at 5,506 points, with 23,303 contracts traded.
National turnover was 1.4 billion securities worth $4.2 billion.
The market was down during morning trade after Wall Street fell overnight on disappointing business spending figures and nervousness ahead of a US Federal Reserve Meeting.
However, the market turned around during afternoon trade thanks to the banks, Australian Stock Report head of research Chris Conway said.
"With all of these quantitative easing programs going across the globe, people are looking for quality names and quality yields that are relatively safe," he said.
"That's why the banks have been rallying recently."
Mr Conway said the low inflation figures released on Wednesday would encourage people to play the share market rather than keep their money in bank deposits.
The latest official inflation figures have reduced expectations of an interest rate cut next week.
Annual headline inflation was weaker than expected at 1.7 per cent, while underlying inflation was stronger than anticipated at 2.25 per cent.
Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank rose 7 cents to $87.70, Westpac gained 12 cents at $34.68, National Australia Bank advanced 5 cents to $35.20, and ANZ added 7 cents at $32.64.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was down 1 cent at $28.94, Rio Tinto added 18 cents to $56.98 and Fortescue Metals Group shed 4 cents to 2.04.
Oz Minerals added 17 cents at $3.61 after it beat its full-year production guidance.
But Bradken shares slumped $1.47, or 35.77 per cent, to $2.64 after a private equity consortium withdrew its takeover offer for the engineering group.
Rail operator Aurizon climbed 8 cents to $4.88 after it re-affirmed its full year rail volumes guidance despite a decline in coal and iron ore volumes in the December quarter.
Telstra lifted 5 cents to $6.49.
