Thanks afternoon crew. End-of-day summary: Aussie shares firmed...

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

Aussie shares firmed for the third time in four sessions as gains in energy producers helped offset down-pressure from miners.

The ASX 200 finished four points or 0.05% ahead after earlier gaining as much as 32 points. The rally lost strength as iron ore prices fell in China. Benchmark prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange eased 0.6% following weak inflation data released over the weekend.

Energy producers, healthcare providers and consumer stocks provided the upward momentum, with support from industrials and most of the major banks.

S&P 500 futures were mildly negative in Sunday night trade, down less than 0.1% ahead of inflation data on Tuesday and a Federal Reserve rates decision on Wednesday.