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The local share market has been treading water, all but certain to finish the week with its worst weekly losses in six months.
At noon AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 3.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 6,961.8. The broader All Ordinaries was up 0.4 points or 0.01 per cent, to 7,153.1.
With a few hours of trading left, the ASX200 was down 2.6 per cent for the week, which would be its worst weekly losses since the week ending September 2.
This week is also certain to be its sixth consecutive week of losses, its longest weekly losing streak since a nine-week stretch in mid-2008 during the Global Financial Crisis.
Overnight, the European Central Bank raised rates by 50 basis points, as promised, despite the turmoil in the financial markets following the closFure of three regional banks in the United States and the bailout of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse.
Also overnight, Wall Street banking giants Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and eight others joined forces to deposit $US30 billion with mid-sized US bank First Republic, giving it a cash infusion in a rescue plan engineered by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Four of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher at midday, with energy the biggest gainer, rising 1.2 per cent as Woodside gained 1.4 per cent and Santos added 1.5 per cent as oil prices stabilised, at least for now.
Property was the biggest loser, dropping 1.8 per cent with losses across the entire sector. Scentre Group was down 1.9 per cent, Goodman Group down 1.6 per cent and GPT down 3.4 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was flat at $43.38, Fortescue Metals was up 1.7 per cent to $21.435 and Rio Tinto was up 0.4 per cent to $115.22.
The big banks were mostly subdued, except for NAB which was up 1.0 per cent to $28.09.
