THE sharemarket has closed flat, held back by weakness among the major banks and expectations of a pause on interest rate cuts following the release of encouraging jobs figures.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 1.4 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5198.4 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 2.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 5180.6 points.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.5 per cent in April, with the total number of people with jobs rising by 50,100, figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said there had been an "ambiguous" interpretation of the jobs data, which had led to a sell-off of some stocks.
"There are concerns that this strength in employment means that more rate cuts will be deferred for at least a few months, and that's seen some selling particularly in those high-yielding stocks," Mr McCarthy said.
