At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 2.50 points or 0.041 percent at 6,099.50, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 1 point or 0.016 percent at 6,306.80.
Local energy stocks surged on the back of a global oil rally, outpacing the rest of the market by some margin with a 0.75 jump in early trade.
"Gulf of Mexico oil producers shuttered around 1.7 million barrels of production. This is close to 2 percent of global supply, and comes in the same week that inventory data suggests energy demand in the U.S. is more robust than expected," CMC Markets Chief Market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
Meanwhile the rest of the market posted mixed results, with modest gains in materials and industrials offsetting losses by financials and health.
In the financial space, the big banks were mostly lower with Westpac Bank down (0.17 percent), ANZ down (0.05 percent) and National Australia Bank down (0.48 percent), however Commonwealth Bank was up (0.10 percent)
Mining stocks were also mostly lower with BHP down (0.38 percent), Rio Tinto down (0.69 percent) and Fortescue Metals down (0.41 percent), however goldminer Newcrest was up (1.06 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers rallied with Oil Search up (2.31 percent) and Santos up (1.59 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (0.66 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets sank with Coles unchanged (0 percent), and Woolworths up (0.05 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dropped (0.36 percent), the national carrier Qantas lifted (0.47 percent) and biomedical firm CSL sank (0.92 percent).
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