Australian shares little changed as financials cap mining gains

Australian shares closed flat on Tuesday as gains in miners and gold stocks were offset by declines in banks, while insurance stocks came under pressure after the launch of an AI tool by Insurify.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended 2.7 points lower at 8,867.40, after rising 1.9% on Monday.

Financials weighed on the benchmark and slid 1.1%, dragged down by sharp losses in insurance companies.

“The insurance brokers are weaker following the lead from their U.S. peers after the release of news that digital competitor Insurify has released a ChatGPT comparison app, potentially impacting the long term value of brokers,” said Luke Winchester, portfolio manager at Merewether Capital.

“It sums up where we are in the current market with regards to AI fears, a peer releasing an app has wiped billions off the market capitalisations of the insurance broking sector.”

Shares of Steadfast Group, AUB Group and Insurance Australia Group fell between 6.1% and 9.5%.

Capping losses, miners advanced 1% on higher iron ore prices. BHP Group rose 1.1% and Rio Tinto gained 1.4%.

Gold stocks climbed 1.3% for a second straight session, with Genesis Minerals up 2.8% and St Barbara rising 4.4%.

Technology stocks added 2.1%, tracking overseas peers. WiseTech Global gained up to 2.6% and Xero rose 2.2%.

Energy stocks advanced 0.6%, with uranium miners Deep Yellow and Paladin Energy up 7.1% and 5.5%, respectively.

Among individual stocks, shares of Treasury Wine Estates were up 8.1%, after it settled a dispute with U.S. distributor Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) over the closure of its California operations.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.501% higher at 13,513.68.