The Australian sharemarket remains in the red at lunchtime while mortgage holders are unlikely to get a helping hand on Tuesday, with resurgent inflation expected to discourage the Reserve Bank from lowering interest rates for the foreseeable future.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 23.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, just after midday with seven of 11 sectors in negative territory.

The ASX has started the week on the backfoot. Credit: Oscar Colman

The big four banks erased early losses to move in the green, led by Westpac, which rose 2.1 per cent after it announced a 1 per cent dip in full-year profit to $6.9 billion . ANZ Bank edged up 0.2 per cent, National Australia Bank climbed 0.3 per cent and the Commonwealth Bank advanced 0.6 per cent.

Mining stocks are mixed. Rio Tinto added 0.5 per c

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