The share market is slightly weaker as a drop in iron ore prices weighs on the major resources stocks.

The market was around a third of a per cent lower in early trade following a soft lead from Wall Street, but gained some ground during the morning as energy stocks and Telstra rose.

“After the weaker leads from the US we started low but we’ve now rallied back to be close to square,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

“That is the inverse of what happened in the US, where we had a very strong rally during the session that collapsed and turned into losses for the night.”

Miners were the main drag on the market after iron ore prices tumbled below $US69 a tonne.

BHP Billiton was down 33 cents at $27.64, Rio Tinto was down 77 cents to $56.69 and Fortescue Metals was 14 cents weaker at $2.41.

Energy stocks staged a surprise rally, as oil prices continued to move lower.

Santos was up 26 cents at $7.47, Woodside Petroleum had gained 23 cents to $35.95 and Oil Search had picked up 13 cents to $7.27.

Mr McCarthy said it appeared long term investors were taking advantage of the recent weakness in the sector, though the outlook for oil prices remained uncertain.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank had fallen 52 cents to $84.78 and ANZ had dropped 12 cents to $32.04, while Westpac had added seven cents to $33.47 and National Australia Bank was 18 cents higher at $33.99.

Telstra continued its recent rally, up four cents to $6.15 after earlier in the session hitting a 13-year high of $6.19.

KEY FACTS

* At 1210 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 8.3 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5,396.4 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 8.4 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5,373.7 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was five points lower at 5,348 points, with 10,910 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 604 million securities worth $1.6 billion.