Australia: Shares trade flat as weaker commodities weigh

[BENGALURU] Australian shares traded flat on Wednesday, tracking a choppy Wall Street, as a retreat in energy and mining stocks due to weaker commodity prices eclipsed gains among healthcare and tech sectors.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was flat at 6,745.4 by 2327 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.1 per cent lower on Tuesday.

Overnight, all three major US indexes fell between 0.8 per cent and 1.1 per cent after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended developing plans for future tax increases to pay for the new public investments.

"I think investors in Australia are still picking through the comments from Janet Yellen and (Federal Reserve Chair) Jerome Powell ... they will take a bit of time to digest," said James Tao, a market analyst with CommSec.

Nikkei futures were down 0.38 per cent, while S&P 500 E-minis futures dipped 0.03 per cent.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 1.6171 per cemt, compared with its US close of 1.638 per cent.

Energy stocks dropped 1.5 per cent as oil prices plunged on new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe.

Oil and gas explorers Woodside Petroleum and Santos lost 1.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Santos said on Wednesday it expects to make a final investment decision on its Barossa project in the coming weeks, after postponing the call last year.

Gold stocks were 1 per cent lower as prices of the underlying precious commodity fell against a strengthening dollar that offset a dip in US Treasury yields.

Top gold producer Newcrest Mining was down 1.3 per cent, while smaller peer Bellevue Gold lost 2.7 per cent.

Bucking the sombre mood, the Australian health stocks advanced, with medical devices makers Resmed and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp rising 0.7 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Tech stocks gained 0.9 per cent, with software maker Xero rising 2.5 per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was also trading flat, as losses in financials offset gains among utility stocks.

REUTERS