SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market opened flat on Wednesday.
At 10:10 local time (AEST) on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 4.4 points, or 0.08 percent, at 5,558.2 while the broader All Ordinaries index was 5.1 points, or 0.09 percent, at 5,652.2 points.
IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said in a note that markets continued to move higher overnight, but with minimal fanfare.
"The big news was that Iran said it would attend the upcoming OPEC meeting in September, which served to briefly rally WTI oil back above 48 U.S. dollars," said Nicholson.
"Some think that there is now some possibility that Iran will commit to a supply freeze deal," he said.
However, Nicholson cautioned that Iran's attendance at OPEC didn't mean that it was ready to commit to a deal and produce oil below their potential when Iraq and Saudi Arabia were producing at record levels.
At the open, ANZ gained 0.82 percent, the National Australia Bank rose 0.60 percent, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up 0.81 percent while Westpac was 0.59 percent higher.
BHP Billiton advanced 1.42 percent, rival Rio Tinto climbed 1.69 percent, while gold miner Newcrest surged 0.63 percent.
Oil Search rose 0.14 percent higher, Santos increased 1.20 percent and Woodside Petroleum rallied 0.70 percent.
Woolworths increased 0.50 percent while rival Wesfarmers retreated 1.90 percent.
Qantas soared 3.68 percent and telecom giant Telstra tumbled 3.28 percent on Wednesday's open.
