Australian shares have closed slightly higher despite the market giving up most of its early gains, lifted by support for big banks, telcos and healthcare stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed Monday up 0.13 per cent at 6,130.4 points, with banks and the healthcare sector offsetting a retreat for the miners and oil companies.
Bell Direct equities strategist Julia Lee said post-holiday light trading volumes again allowed the market to drift as afternoon trade slackened.
"This often impacts the four major banks, while the pullback in commodity and oil prices from last week's highs also affected mining and energy companies," Ms Lee said.
Commonwealth Bank, up 0.6 per cent to $81.62, was the best performer among Australia's top four lenders, while the National Australia Bank alone lost ground, down 0.1 per cent to $29.82.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton ended 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent lower respectively, while major energy companies closed the day mixed.
Santos made the best of lower oil prices, up 0.5 per cent to $5.58, while Woodside Petroleum shed 0.6 per cent to $34.38.
Leading the gains in a strong session for healthcare companies were Cochlear and Resmed, up 1.2 per cent to $174.20, and 1.5 per cent to $11.15 respectively.
Blood and plasma products maker CSL rose 0.4 per cent to $143.23.
Cannabis product maker Auscann continued its strong run following the green light given to medicinal marijuana producers looking to export, closing 9.4 per cent higher.
Elsewhere, Suncorp shed 1.2 per cent to $13.72 after the insurance giant reckoned claims from Melbourne's December hailstorm would damage first-half results by between $160 million and $170 million.
Telstra gained 0.5 per cent to $3.75, while telco sector peer Vocus Group lifted 12 cents, or 3.8 per cent, to $3.29 after announcing Bellamy's chairman John Ho was on-board as a non-executive director.
The Australian dollar fell from commodity inspired multi-month highs after lunch against a US dollar also softened by disappointing US jobs data.
The local currency was trading at 78.41 US cents at 1700 AEDT on Monday, from 78.48 on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 8.1 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 6,130.4 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 6.8 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 6,236.5
* The SPI200 futures contract was up 7 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 6,081 points
* National turnover was 4.5 billion securities traded worth $3.8 billion
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 78.41 US cents, from 78.48 on Friday
* 88.78 Japanese yen, from 88.67 yen
* 65.23 euro cents, from 65.02 euro cents
* 57.84 British pence, from 57.84 pence
* 109.36 NZ cents, from 109.71 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,317.75 per fine ounce, from $US1,320.23 per fine ounce on Friday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 1.9772pct, from 1.9724pct
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.5969pct, from 2.5827pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.345 (implying a yield of 2.655pct), from 97.360 (2.640pct) on Friday
* March 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.880 (2.120pct), from 97.895 (2.105pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)
U.S. equities edged higher on Monday as investors took stock after the strong rally that marked the start of 2018, but healthcare and bank shares weighed on Wall Street’s three major indexes.
Investors were focused on making marginal moves within their portfolios on a slow news day after the rally and before earnings season, said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis.
“The news lies ahead in terms of economic reports, earnings and earnings warnings. In the meantime, you’ll take advantage of some of the price action,” said Paulsen.
At 3:02 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 1.23 points, or 0 percent, to 25,297.1, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.21 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,747.36 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 18.17 points, or 0.25 percent, to 7,154.73.
The S&P 500’s healthcare sector .SPXHC was the weakest performer of the S&P’s 11 sectors with a 0.5-percent decline on the first day of JP Morgan annual healthcare conference in San Francisco. It had risen 3.2 percent in the previous week.
The Nasdaq biotech index .NBI was down 1.4 percent, on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline since mid-December, led by a 3.9-percent drop in Biogen (BIIB.O) and 3.2 percent decline in Regeneron (REGN.O).
A 0.4-percent decline in the bank subsector .SPXBK put pressure on the broader financials index .SPSY, which was down 0.1 percent.
Investors waited for the fourth-quarter earnings reports to gauge the impact of recent tax cuts. The earnings season kicks off later this week, starting with big banks.
Caterpillar (CAT.N) climbed 2.7 percent to a record at $165.55 after JP Morgan upgraded the stock saying the tax overhaul could help North America’s construction business cycle extend in 2018.
Kohl’s Corp (KSS.N) was up 5 percent. The department store operator posted far stronger same-store sales for the holidays than its bigger peers.
Nvidia (NVDA.O) was up 3.9 percent after the graphics chipmaker announced partnership with Uber and Volkswagen as its artificial intelligence platforms expand into technology for self-driving cars.
GoPro shares (GPRO.O) were last down 15 percent at $6.41. Earlier in the day, it had lost about a third of its value and hit a record low at $5.04 after saying it expected lower fourth-quarter revenue and that it would exit the drone business.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.03-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 91 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 24 new lows.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
A classic breakfast this morning - Eggs Benny with Smoked Salmon, unlimited tea and coffee.
A big day on the medical front for me with three appointments. Will be out by the time the market opens. Oh dear - what to do about QBL? Shall try to make some sneaky phone trades.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
