End-of-day summary:
The ASX floundered to its seventh loss in nine sessions as gains for resource stocks were outweighed by ongoing weakness across the wider market.
An attempted morning rally proved unsustainable following weak retail sales and a pop in energy prices. The ASX 200 finished 5.5 points or 0.08% in the red after earlier gaining as much as 22 points.
S&P 500 futures swung around as oil's relentless charge towards US$100 a barrel added to inflationary pressures. The front month contract for Brent crude hit US$97.69 a barrel this afternoon. S&P 500 futures were lately up 0.16%, overcoming earlier weakness.
The ASX energy sector jumped almost 3%, but those gains were offset by losses among gold miners, consumer stocks and some of the banks. Consumer stocks fell after August retail sales grew less than expected.
