At 12.00pm (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 2 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 3739.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index crept up 1.8 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 3737.1.
ABN Amro Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop said the trading day would continue to be fairly flat.
"Some of these bank shares are heading down, but it is a rather directionless day,'' Mr Bishop said.
"All in all, it's been a satisfactorily boring day.
"We are tied to American apron strings, much as we don't like to admit it.''
The banks were mixed.
Commonwealth Bank was down 50 cents at $34.30, ANZ had slipped 4 cents to $15.16, Westpac had dropped 2 cents to $18.66, while NAB gained 33 cents to $21.48.
Resources were in the red at the noon bell.
Mining giant BHP Billiton put on 6 cents to $33.93, while rival Rio Tinto was 3cents higher at $64.11.
In the energy sector oil stocks were mixed, with Woodside down 10 cents at $42.40, Santos also down 10 cents to $14.19, while Oil Search gained 10 cents, or 1.93 per cent, to $5.28.
Among other earners Telstra was up 5 cents at $3.13, while rival Optus's parent, Singapore Telecommunications, put on 4 cents to $2.52.
Coles owner Wesfarmers rose 26 cents to $20.51, while Woolworths shed 16 cents to $25.56.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was ten points lower at 3741 on a volume of 7616 contracts.
