SYDNEY, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Australian market has closed flat on Tuesday with mixed results across the sectors.
At the close of trade, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 1.80 points or 0.03 percent at 5,759.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index lifted 3.50 points or 0.06 percent at 5,798.10.
"The market has kicked things off on a cautious note, because this is going to be quite a busy week," Commsec Market analyst, Steven Daghlian told Xinhua.
"Tomorrow is the general election in the Netherlands, the U.S. interest rate hike is likely on Thursday morning and an update on Aussie jobs growth will also come later that day."
"There may even be more details released on the Trump administration's economic stimulus plans, so I think the market is just catching its breath, just waiting for the key events of the week to unfold."
Some were anticipating economic news out of China to move the market on Tuesday. However, the data had no strong effect on the index.
"Retail spending was a little weaker than expected but we had better results from production and an investment standpoint, but it wasn't enough to move markets in a big way," he said.
The best performers on Tuesday were the mining and energy stocks, which saw a lift from bargain hunters looking to buy.
The commonwealth Bank was flat at 0.00 percent, National Australia Bank fell 0.75 percent, Westpac lost 0.83 percent and ANZ slipped 0.16 percent.
BHP Billiton added 0.76 percent, Rio Tinto gained 0.52 percent, Fortescue Metals climbed 0.73 percent and Newcrest edged higher at 0.09 percent.
Woodside Petroleum was up 0.50 percent, Santos lifted 1.56 percent and Oil Search added 0.22 percent.
Wesfarmers edged higher at 0.07 percent, while Woolworths slid 0.28 percent.
Qantas lost 0.77 percent, Telstra stock rose 0.22 percent and CSL ended the day lower at 0.18 percent.
