Oil and China stimulus drive the gains
Australian shares have had a shaky session as oil prices continued to weigh on confidence and select miners jumped after China announced fiscal stimulus.
The S&P/ASX200 rose five points, or 0.06%, to 9,010.9 on Monday as the broader All Ordinaries gained 4.6 points, or 0.05%, to 9,200.6.
Energy stocks outperformed the bourse, up 1.7% as oil prices hit seven-week highs after the US and Iran exchanged tit-for-tat strikes at the weekend.
Major miners helped support the bourse with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue lifting after China's government flagged a $US54 billion ($A75 billion) injection into state banks and insurers to shore up its financial sector.
The announcement helped push iron ore futures above $US100 a tonne for the first time since July 2.
Gold stocks capped the gains in raw materials as the precious metal eased to $US4,393 ($A6,092), after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report increased the odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
Rate hike bets narrow
Interest rate markets have continued to narrow their bets on a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hike, now fully pricing a hike by November 3.
The market was also now pricing a near 70% probability of an RBA hike in September, Global X ETF strategy analyst Joseph Marassa said.
“If energy and materials continue to diverge from rate-sensitive sectors, leaving the index trading broadly flat, capital gains from equities are likely to be limited,” he said.
The heavyweight financials sector inched 0.2% higher on the back of a decent performance by CommBank.
Technology stocks underperformed, diving 2.6% in a broad-based sell-off.
Consumer staples, discretionary retail, utilities, communications and healthcare stocks also fell.
The Australian dollar is buying 72.15 US cents, up from 72.04 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
