Australian shares pared earlier gains at noon as sharp losses in energy stocks from a lower crude oil price dragged the index lower.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was flat at 7641 near midday. with six out of the 11 sectors in the red.
The energy sector was the worst performer, sinking 1.9 per cent. Santos dropped 4.7 per cent and Woodside lost 1.5 per cent. The sharp loss tracked the lower crude oil price as it held the biggest drop in three weeks. Brent steadied below $US82 a barrel after declining by 2.5 per cent on Friday.
Meanwhile. consumer discretionary sector was the best performer, led by Wesfarmers up 1.3 per cent. Lovisa rallied 3.9 per cent and Tabcorp rose 0.9 per cent.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand could upend the bullish mood by challenging the consensus that global interest rates have peaked at its first policy meeting of the year.
Perpetual's head of investment strategy, Matthew Sherwood, said stocks were priced for perfection, given the exuberance around artificial intelligence and Nvidia. That could change if the consensus around monetary tightening having run its course crumbles under the weight of persistently high inflation.
"I don't believe any central bank in this environment can get back to sustained 2 per cent core inflation without crashing their economy, as there's lots of cost inflation now embedded in the system," he said.
Stocks on the move
Suncorp rallied 4.1 per cent after the financials company revealed it reaped an extra 16 per cent in insurance premiums, amid surges in price rises across industry.
TPG Telecom's shares tumbled 7.5 per cent after its annual net profit shrunk to $49 million from $513 million a year earlier as the company's expenses rose, driven by higher telecommunications tower leasing costs and increased interest rates on debt.
Endeavour Group dropped 4.1 per cent after its net profit fell 3.6 per cent to $351 million, dented by higher financing costs. This was in line with company expectations and not as bad as feared by analysts who tipped a 5.3 per cent fall.
Online retailer Kogan surged 21.1 per cent and has reinstated its dividend after returning to profitability in the December half, although revenue slipped by 9.9 per cent as shoppers backed off because of cost-of-living pressures.
Aussie Broadband rallied 1.4 per cent after it scooped up a near 20 per cent stake in rival internet broadband provider Superloop and made a $466 million indicative takeover bid for the smaller company to create "a scale player" with more than one million broadband subscribers.
Lynas Rare Earths' rose 4.8 per cent even as its net profit collapsed to $39.5 million in the six months to December 31, down 74 per cent compared to $150.1 million a year earlier. Revenue over the first half of the financial year slid to $234.8 million, a 37 per cent drop from $370 million.
Alumina shares surged 6.8 per cent after it received a non-binding, indicative and conditional proposal from Alcoa to acquire the company via a scheme of arrangement. Consideration for the offer is 0.02854 shares of Alcoa stock for each Alumina share.
Bedding and furniture group Adairs rallied 12.5 per cent after its first half earnings before interest, tax and amortisation at $59.6 million beat analyst expectations.

Sumber : afr.com