Australian shares flat as gold miners' losses offset gains in banks
- The S&P/ASX 200 index was largely unchanged at 9,095.40
Australian equities were flat on Monday, as gains in banks were offset by sharp losses in gold stocks, which slid after US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish comments fuelled US rate-hike hopes and dented demand for the non-yielding metal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was largely unchanged at 9,095.40, as of 0050 GMT.
The benchmark closed 0.6% higher on Friday.
Rate-sensitive financials rose as much as 1.4%, putting the sector on track for its best session in nearly four weeks.
The “big four” banks gained between 1.2% and 1.8%. Real estate stocks also rose 0.3%.
Last week’s data showed consumer prices rose more than expected, prompting investors to shift their expectations from a pause at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s September meeting to a 25-basis-point rate hike.
Meanwhile, the broader mining sub-index shed 1.8%, with heavyweight BHP Group and Rio Tinto down 1.3% and 1%, respectively.
Gold stocks lost as much as 4.2%, set to mark their worst session in over a month and leading losses on the benchmark index.
Bullion prices weakened, as investors reacted to Warsh’s remarks.
Speaking at the Fed’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Warsh said the US central bank would “have work to do” if policymakers were not confident that underlying inflation was returning to its 2% target.
Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining declined over 4% each.
Gold miner Northern Star announced the appointment of Phillip Coetzer as acting chief financial officer.
Technology stocks followed suit and fell 1%, mirroring the losses in their US peers.
Among individual stocks, Star Entertainment fell 3.9% after missing market expectations, despite the embattled casino operator reporting a smaller annual loss.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3% to 13,804.78.
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