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Aust stocks flat at noon

Local market little changed despite a fall in the iron ore price weighing on miners.
By · 20 May 2014
By ·
20 May 2014
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The Australian sharemarket is little changed at noon despite a fall in the iron ore price below $US100 a tonne weighing on miners.

At 12.05pm (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 6.1 points, or 0.11%, to 5,402.9 points, while the the broader All Ordinaries index shed 5.4 points, or 0.1%, to 5,384.9 points.

Benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at $US98.50 a tonne, down from $US100.70 in the previous session.

IG market strategist Stan Shamu said iron ore stocks and China's weaker demand were in focus.

"If we can see materials find a bottom, which will be largely dependent on China, we could see the market trade higher," he told AAP.

"If Chinese equities continue to slide today from their two month lows we can expect a lot of materials stocks to slide into the afternoon part of the session."

Materials were mixed, with the major miners falling

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