ASX slips to start week
Australia's sharemarket started the week lower, but snatched a fifth straight calendar month of gains in August to cap off a broadly positive earnings season.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 16.3 points on Monday, down 0.18%, to 9,076, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 22.9 points, or 0.25%, to 9,271.4.
August ends higher
The top 200 rose 1.11% over August and has recovered 6.8% since a sharp fall in March when the Iran war sent share prices tumbling as crude prices surged.
In a flurry of apparent month-end portfolio rebalancing, the financials segment rallied on Monday but ended the month almost 6% lower, while raw materials stocks sold off but were up 11.6% over the same period.
Investors regularly rebalance their portfolios by selling winning trades and buying underperformers to take profits while positioning for potential upswings.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.66 US cents, down from 71.99 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
