The Australian sharemarket has finished lower, despite some resilience in the resources and materials sector.
Options XPress market analyst Ben Le Brun said the local market had bounced back in afternoon trade as investors looked ahead to central bank meetings in Europe and Japan.
"It's been the resources and materials that have held up quite well and there's been some paring back of losses in the financial space," Mr Le Brun said.
He said the local bourse could have finished much lower after losing ground in morning trade.
Some traders had made pre-emptive moves in anticipation of quantitative easing announcements, he said.
"That could potentially lift risk asset prices," Mr Le Brun said.
"But investors are entitled to be a bit nervous."
Market watchers are waiting for the release of central bank commentary from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and the Bank of Japan overnight.
The Australian market had opened marginally higher, but it fell back after the release of balance of trade figures showing Australia's trade deficit widened to $1.057 billion in January.
Economists' forecasts had centred on a deficit of $500 million.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new all time high, for the second day.
Locally, among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was 37 cents higher at $69.68, National Australia Bank was up 23 cents at $31.06, ANZ dipped 22 cents to $29.01, and Westpac backtracked 37 cents to $31.29.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was flat at $35.82 and Rio Tinto added three cents at $63.23.
Telco Telstra reversed three cents to $4.54 as it sought to raise one billion euros ($1.28 billion) through a bond issue.
