By 12.00pm (AEDT), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was flat at 3516.9.
The broader All Ordinaries index had added 1.6 points to 3462.9.
CMC Markets senior advisor Dominic Vaughan said the market was reacting to mixed company reports.
"It's flat, and it has more to do with individual stocks than any major issues at the moment,'' Mr Vaughan said.
"At this stage, there's not much you can say about it, but the financial sector is holding up ok.''
Among the major banks, the NAB had lost 13 cents to $18.44, Commonwealth Bank had added 25 cents to $29.87, Westpac had found 8 cents at $17.02, while ANZ lost 13 cents to $12.85.
Meanwhile, insurance group AXA lost 16 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $3.94, QBE lost 35 cents to $23.23 and AMP had added 12 cents $5.27.
"There's continued pressure on that financial sector, especially with the flooding in Queensland and the fires in Melbourne, so it looks like they're going to continue under pressure'' Mr Vaughan said.
In the resources sector, market giant BHP Billiton lost 22 cents to $31.92 while rival Rio Tinto found $1.16 at $51.96.
Energy giant Woodside had lost 7 cents to $32.68 by 1208 AEDT, Santos had shed 31 cents to $14.94, while Oil Search found 1 cent to $4.70.
Meanwhile, OneSteel added 8 cents, or 3.6 per cent, to $2.30, after it reported a sharp rise in first half profit and warned that the worsening global economic crisis would dampen demand for steel over the rest of the year.
Druggist CSL found 34 cents to $37.00, hearing implant maker Cochlear found 15 cents to $54.89, while Fisher and Paykel Healthcare lost one cent to $2.68.
Condom maker Ansell found four cents to $8.25.
In media stocks, News Corp (the parent company of the publisher of news.com.au) shed 22 cents to $10.73, its non-voting scrip lost 8 cents to $9.66, Fairfax lost 2 cents to $1.065, and the Seven Network lost 3 cents to $5.70.
Telstra lost 2 cents to $3.71 and Optus owner SingTel found 3 cents to $2.54.
Qantas shed 0.5 of a cent to $1.855 a share.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract had lost 12 points to 3,486, on volume of 9,804 contracts.
Shares higher as banks gain
Shares lower as resources slide
Large banks take beating on Wall Street
