MELBOURNE - The Australian stock market closed steady, with the big miners dragging the bourse into negative territory after weaker commodity prices overnight.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down just 0.9 points at 5086.1, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 9.4 points to 5163.8.
At1616 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was 18 points lower at 5099, on a volume of 127,950 contracts.
CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said falls in the resource sector weighed heavily on the local market today after commodity prices slipped overnight.
"The resource sector has come under a fair amount of pressure today, with BHP (Billiton) down over four per cent, with the general commodity markets under pressure," Mr Vaughan said.
"There is a possibility that commodity markets will come off further if we see some benefits for the financial sector in the US, you may even see a bounce in the US dollar which will cause a decline in commodity prices globally."
"The banks are in positive territory, it is a partial bounce, but the sector is still a long way out of the woods yet."
BHP Billiton shed $1.80 or 4.8 per cent to $35.70, while rival Rio Tinto lost $4.20 or 3.31 per cent to $122.80.
The two miners have reportedly been blocked from selling iron ore into the spot market in China amid strained price negotiations for the bulk commodity.
The local bourse got off to a good start after a positive lead from Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average putting on 21.16 points to close at 11,972.25.
The US Federal Reserve will decide on whether to cut interest rates tonight, while two of the country's largest investment banks - Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs - will release their earnings results.
