The Australian sharemarket is flat at lunchtime with little leads coming from international markets, as both the US and UK sharemarkets were closed for public holidays.
European shares edged higher in thin trading after a European Central Bank official signalled policymakers could consider successive interest-rate cuts, starting next month.
Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau pushed back against fellow monetary officials who are uncomfortable at the idea of consecutive cuts.Credit: Bloomberg
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 11.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7776.4 at 12:50pm AEST, with industrial, utilities and consumer discretionary stocks the laggards. Only the materials, real estate and consumer staples sectors were higher.
Gold miners were higher after a rise in the spot bullion price overnight. Evolution Mining shares were up 1.7 per cent, Newmont 0.9 per cent and Northern Star Resources 1.2 per cent.
Strike Energy shares jumped 8.3 per cent after the company told the ASX that its Walyering gas field site had recouped its development cost of $30 million just eight months after it was brought online. The payback period is one of the fastest in recent times for a greenfield Australian oil and gas project.
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Nickel Industries shares are up 4.3 per cent and Pro Medicus 2.1 per cent.
On the other side, Boss Energy shares shed 8.9 per cent after the company revealed that its chief executive Duncan Craib, chair Wyatt Buck and director Bryn Jones had sold more than $26 million worth of their shareholdings in the company.
Hub24 shares dipped 4.4 per cent and Healius is down 3.7 per cent.