After a positive start, the Aussie market has dipped into the red heading into the afternoon session. The ASX200 is presently down two points, at 4919.

Financials and healthcare stocks are weighing on the market, while materials are holding up thanks to commodity price gains in Friday's night international session.

In company news, Aquila Resources has announced that due to a budgetary dispute with West Pilbara Iron Ore Project partner, AMCI, it has suspended the project until at least June 2013.

In the latest economic news, Australian building approvals surprisingly slumped 4.4% in December whilst the number of job advertised fell for a 10^th consecutive month in January, according to the latest ANZ Job Ads survey. Around the region, Asian markets are generally higher. The Nikkei and Hang Seng are up around half a percent each.

Midday Market Update: is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog