ASX 200 closes flat; St Barbara rebuffs Silver Lake, Qantas falls after $2.5bn profit tip

BHP pulls materials lower. St Barbara rejects Silver Lake bid. BrainChip dives amid first strike. Qantas warns of moderating airfares. Technology One ups dividend.

Equity markets are awaiting a resolution to US’ debt ceiling impasse. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Tuesday, May 23. The Australian sharemarket lost a few points as materials and consumer stocks offset a solid bounce in tech and financials.

The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 3.40 points, or less than 0.1 per cent to close at 7259.90. 

Wall Street is set for a modest gain as talks to lift the debt ceiling were referred to as "productive". Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up by about 0.1 per cent.

The dollar was near US66.60c at the close.