Aust stocks close little changed

The Australian sharemarket has narrowed morning losses to close little changed as investors switched  into yield stocks and out of second-tier iron ore miners as the commodity's price continues to fall.

At the 4.15pm (AEST) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index edged up 4.2 points, or 0.08%, to 5,424.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index inched up 2.2 points, or 0.04 %, to 5,403.9 points.

UBS executive director of equity sales Rob Taubman said the fall in the iron ore price to $US97.50 a tonne has been front of mind today, as investors search for yield.

"There's more pressure on second-tier miners like Fortescue and BC Iron, but ti's still continuing to pressure the majors," Mr Taubman said.

"Conservatism and yield-basing is still the pattern.

There's stocks such as Telstra that are continuing to break 10-year highs. Woolworths is continuing to trade up."

Mr Taubman said very few stocks drove the afternoon recovery, notably Telstra, Woodside Petroleum and the Commonwealth Bank.

A sharp drop in consumer sentiment this morning also weighed on the industrials sector, he said.