Australian miners and energy stocks are helping to limit losses in the broader market after a weak lead from Wall Street sparked by jitters around US tariffs and artificial intelligence.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 10.4 points by midday, down 0.12 per cent, to 9,015.6, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 8.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 9,243.2.
The local bourse started the session slightly higher but slipped below break-even by midday, following a night of tech losses in the US market due to fears of artificial intelligence disruption.
"AI is no longer being framed as an opportunity but a threat, inspiring risk aversion rather than risk taking," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"The shift in narrative has changed the direction of momentum, with a virtuous cycle leading to a more vicious one where lower prices create gloomier storytelling."
The local tech sector slumped 2.2 per cent to its lowest level since November 2023 in a broad-based sell-off.
Basic materials helped limit the losses elsewhere, the sector jumping 1.6 per cent as risk-off sentiment supported gold stocks and mining behemoth BHP broke $55 per share for the first time.
Gold itself spiked to three-week highs overnight to trade hands at $US5,228 ($A7,405) an ounce, helping lift Evolution Mining and Northern Star three per cent each, while Denver-headquartered Newmont traded flat.
Critical minerals producers continued their run-up, with Liontown and PLS both more than 4.8 per cent higher, while Lynas Rare Earths edged 0.7 per cent higher.
The heavyweight financials sector lost 1.2 per cent as the big four banks continued to fade from the previous week's post-earnings rally, led by a 1.3 per cent slump in ANZ to $39.24.
However, insurers and financial services firms were in even worse shape, clocking losses of more than two per cent across most of the sub-sectors.
Energy stocks rose 0.8 per cent, tracking a similar boost for Woodside shares after the oil and gas giant posted record production, which helped offset softer commodity prices and a full-year profit fall.
Coal miners were mixed, while uranium stocks rebounded modestly from several sessions of profit-taking.
Consumer cyclicals continued to face pressure, down 1.5 per cent on Tuesday to 10-month lows as broader sentiment and company-level earnings misses.
Vehicle accessory company ARB tumbled by almost 15 per cent in early trade after its reported post-tax profit slumped 17.2 per cent to $42.2 million in the first half due to a "challenging environment", including depressed new car sales.
Beauty-focused e-commerce company Adore Beauty had more than 10 per cent of its value wiped as investors weighed record marketing costs and the impact of November sales over-performance on margins.
It's a big day for earnings results for communications and media companies, with Southern Cross Media and Nine Entertainment both handing up their financials.
Southern Cross shares dropped by more than three per cent, as it played up the value of its recent acquisition, after chief executive Jeff Howard was suddenly ejected from the company on Monday night.
Nine swung 4.5 per cent into the green to $1.10 after its underlying net profit surged 30 per cent to $95.2 million.
Industrials gained 0.6 per cent as Monadelphous Group rocketed almost 14 per cent higher after its first-half revenues nearly doubled to $1.5 billion.
The Australian dollar was buying 70.61 US cents, down slightly from 70.74 US cents on Monday at 5pm, but hanging onto recent gains ahead of Wednesday's consumer price index print for January.
