Banks power a late turnaround
The Australian share market has managed to avoid a third straight day of losses thanks to a bounce from the banking sector.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished up 1.6 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 8,724.5, while the broader All Ordinaries lost half a point to finish at 8,930.9.
Despite the flat finish just two of the ASX’s 11 sectors finished in the green - health care and financials.
The latter rose 1.2 per cent following a rough session on Wednesday.
All of the big four retail banks saw gains between 0.3 and 3.8 per cent.
Gold miners rebound
In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers rose as the precious metal rebounded to $US4,077 an ounce following a dip below $4,000 earlier in the week.
Evolution climbed 1.9 per cent, Northern Star grew 5.5 per cent and Newmont added 2.6 per cent.
Elsewhere in the sector, BHP lost 0.6 per cent to $59.57, Rio Tinto grew 0.3 per cent to $171.27 and Fortescue lost 1.5 per cent to $18.96.
The Australian dollar
The Australian dollar was trading for 68.94 US cents, from 68.90 US cents at 5pm AEST on Wednesday.
