The Australian sharemarket ended virtually unchanged on Tuesday, with modest gains in financials and miners offsetting wider losses across the bourse, as investors monitored renewed market jitters following United States President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped by just 2.4 points to close at 7,816.7. Eight of 11 sectors finished in the red, with technology and energy stocks leading the declines.
Financials were a bright spot, climbing 1.1% overall, thanks largely to a rebound in Commonwealth Bank shares, which popped 4.2%.
However, peers National Australia Bank and ANZ slipped 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Macquarie also rose 0.6% after announcing the US$1.8 billion (A$2.8 billion) sale of its North American and European public asset management operations to Japan’s Nomura.
Heavyweight miners BHP and Rio Tinto each ticked 0.1% higher.
Gold miners also rallied in response to fresh record highs in spot gold prices, with names such as Gold Road up 2.8%, and Westgold adding 1.6%.
In contrast, technology stocks dragged on the index, with Block shedding 5.5%, Appen down 3.1%, and WiseTech Global dropping 2.4%.
Real estate companies (A-REITs) also faced pressure, with Goodman Group, Charter Hall, and Mirvac down 1.7%, 1.1%, and 0.5%, respectively.
Among individual movers, AMP rose 0.4% after Citi upgraded the financial services firm to a “buy” rating, citing attractive valuations.
On the bond markets, 10-year and 2-year yields were steady at 4.225% and 3.232%, respectively.
