Australian stocks finished a shade firmer on Wednesday thanks to the central bank's decision not to raise rates, but spice maker Burns Philp plumbed an 11-month low after reporting a fall in first-quarter profit.
Disappointing earnings results from US technology bellwether Cisco Systems Inc also cast a shadow on the market, further holding investors back.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose just 1.3 points to 3,265.6 on average volume of A$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion), following Tuesday's 0.3 percent fall.
"It's been very quiet most of the day. Today's trading has been surprisingly muted," said ING Investment Management equities dealer Ruppen Margarian.
"After the US non-farm payrolls on Friday, we're really going to start concentrating on our reporting season, and that's going to be the key," he added.
The Reserve Bank of Australia left the official cash rate unchanged at 5.25 percent after its policy-setting meeting on Tuesday as it paused to assess the effects of two earlier rate hikes delivered in November and December.
"There was only a minority of economists tipping a rate hike today, but it takes away a degree of uncertainty which is also positive for the share market," said Commonwealth Securities senior analyst Craig James.
Shares in Burns, Philp & Co slumped to their lowest level in nearly 11 months, touching A$0.51 before closing at A$0.54, down 3.6 percent, after the spice maker reported a nine percent fall in first-half net profit.
Hardware group Hills Industries lost 3.8 percent to two-week lows of A$3.83 after failing to impress with a 14 percent rise in half-year net profit, but listed property trust Stockland rose 1.1 percent to a one-week high of A$5.31 after posting a 62 percent jump in half-year profit before one-off items.
Coca-Cola Amatil advanced 2.2 percent to seven-month highs of A$6.53 after it said late on Tuesday it expected a 16 percent increase in full-year profit before one-off items, exceeding analysts forecast. Share registry firm Computershare fell 2.3 percent to four-month lows of A$3.01 as investors turned cautious after the recent string of acquisitions.
Among market heavyweights, Telstra lost 0.8 percent to A$4.89 on media reports that stiffer competition in the mobile phone market could wipe as much as A$450 million from its earnings.
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