ASX closes flat as miners outshine banks; gold stocks rally
The numbers
The Australian sharemarket has shrugged off signs of weakness in the world's biggest economy to close flat, as a rally in mining stocks helped offset declines in the major banks and energy companies.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.7 points higher on Monday, at 8663.70 points, reversing a fall in the index earlier in the day. Six of the market's 11 sectors fell, and the weakest sectors for the day were energy, financials and industrials.
The flat performance followed a slump on Wall Street on Friday, as investors reacted to surprisingly weak figures on US jobs growth and the latest developments in US President Donald Trump's trade war. The Australian dollar was fetching US64.83¢ at 4.50pm AEST.
The lifters
Miners posted a strong session, buoyed by a higher iron ore price and strength in the gold price. Global mining giant BHP rose 0.9 per cent, Fortescue was up 1.5 per cent and Rio Tinto gained 0.4 per cent. Gold miners performed particularly well after a rise in the price of the precious metal. Evolution Mining jumped 2.6 per cent and Northern Star Resources surged 5.6 per cent.
Shares in Endeavour – the company that runs Dan Murphy's and BWS – jumped 3 per cent after executive chairman Ari Mervis suddenly quit his role over 'disagreements with the board' as he edged closer to handing over the keys of the business to incoming chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka.
Consumer staple stocks also had a solid day: supermarket giant Woolworths rose 1.3 per cent, and rival Coles lifted 1.7 per cent.
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