Aust share market closes slightly higher

The Australian share market has closed almost flat in the absence of any major corporate news and with little impact from Chinese manufacturing data.

Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said trading on the local bourse was light.

"I think it's probably a lack of corporate impulse," Mr Heffernan said.

"Some of the banks were a bit soft, and that's probably what's caused the market to be a bit lacklustre."

Mr Heffernan said investors seemed to have shrugged off Chinese manufacturing data released on Monday.

He said the Chinese figures generally affect Australia's resources sector but they appeared to have had limited impact on major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

The figures showed that growth in Chinese manufacturing activity slowed in August, reflecting a declining property sector and the waning impact of economic stimulus measures.

Mr Heffernan said the market may get more drive from major local and overseas economic data later in the week.

Australia's quarterly GDP figures are released on Wednesday, and US jobs figures are out on Friday.

Also, the Reserve Bank of Australia meets on Tuesday, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are among others to meet later in the week.

The property sector was one of the best performers on Monday.

The operator of Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand, Scentre Group, jumped six cents to $3.49, Goodman Group was up four cents at $5.62, and Dexus Property Group improved 1.5 cents to $1.22, according to preliminary closing figures.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton added three cents to $36.70, Rio Tinto climbed 17 cents to $62.80, and Fortescue Metals eased eight cents to $4.09.

Among the major banks, National Australia Bank dipped eight cents to $35.12, ANZ was steady at $33.43, Commonwealth Bank lost two cents to $81.30, and Westpac gained 10 cents to $35.14.

Telstra found two cents at $5.58, while Qantas dropped for the first time since posting its massive loss, shedding two cents to $1.45.

KEY FACTS

• At 1626 AEST on Monday, according to preliminary figures, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.9 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 5,629.8 points.

• The broader All Ordinaries index was up 4.7 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 5,629.3 points.

• The September share price index futures contract was down seven points at 5,608 points, with 16,910 contracts traded.

• Preliminary national turnover was 1.54 billion securities worth $3.01 billion.