S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) was swinging between gains and losses throughout the day and ended the session flat at 6221.8.
Oil prices are near 5-month highs and helped the energy sector easily outperform the broader market.
Oil & gas producers made gains of between 2-4.5% with Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) climbing the most, rising 5.45%.
Financials were the main weight on the market with losses for the four major banks. Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) lost 0.6%, the most of the big four.
Crown Resorts takeover
Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN) gained close to 20% after the Melbourne based gaming and entertainment company confirmed a proposed takeover by Las Vegas based Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN).
Few tech stocks gain
Artificial intelligence (AI) software firm, Appen (ASX:APX) rose by 4% after its share purchase plan offer to raise $15 million was 3.4 times oversubscribed.
Both Afterpay Touch (ASX:APT) and Altium (ASX:ALU) also both gained 1.7% and 1.6% respectively.
The Australian dollar continued its rally to 71.4 US cents.