Australia: Miners hold back shares even as financials gain

[BENGALURU] Australian shares ended flat on Monday as losses in gold and mining stocks offset strong gains in financials, which were lifted by insurers ahead of earnings later this week.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed unchanged at 7,538.4 points, the record closing level hit last Friday.

Gold stocks shed 3.2 per cent, the most among all sectors, as bullion dipped after solid US jobs data stoked concerns of a sooner-than-expected interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining fell 2.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

Miners were also among top drags, shedding as much as 1.2 per cent, as iron ore prices came under pressure from prospects of improved supply and weakening Chinese demand.

BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group fell between 0.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent.

Financial stocks were the bright spot, adding 1.3 per cent for the day.

Shares of National Australia Bank closed 0.9 per cent higher after the country's third-largest lender said it would buy Citigroup's local consumer unit in a deal valued at about US$882 million.

Insurer Suncorp Group climbed 7.8 per cent after announcing strong annual results and a share buyback that supported outsized gains by the sector.

Insurance Australia Group and QBE Insurance added 4.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively, ahead of earnings later this week.

Westpac rose 1 per cent after it agreed to sell its domestic life insurance business to Japan's Dai-ichi Life Holdings for A$900 million (S$896.8 million).

Australia's pharmaceutical regulator granted provisional approval to Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine, while authorities in New South Wales expanded lockdown measures to the countryside.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5 per cent to 12,700.83.

REUTERS