ASX eases as tech stocks retreat, miners shine on gold and copper rally

The news: The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Monday after an early rally petered out, with gains in gold and copper miners offsetting losses in tech.

After spending the morning higher, the S&P/ASX 200 Index ended 0.1 per cent or 6 points at 8,981.4, following two sessions of gains. The local bourse briefly surpassed the August 21 record closing high of 9,019.1, but was unable to sustain gains in a subdued session as parts of the country was observing Labour day.

Biggest movers:

• Lynas Rare Earths (+7.2%) – Top ASX 200 performer on reports that China and Malaysia were in early talks for a project to process rare earths. Shares climbed to an intraday peak of $19.50, the highest level since 2011.
• Predictive Discovery (+9%) – Surged after announcing a merger with Canada's Robex Resources in a $2.3 billion deal. Robex shareholders will receive 8.667 PDI shares per Robex security.
• Brisbane Broncos (+27%) – Soared to a record high of $1.675 after their NRL grand final victory.
• Copper miners – Kincora Copper (+5.5%), Sandfire Resources (+4%) rallied after copper hit 16-month high on Indonesia mine accident concerns.
• Gold miners – Newmont (+2.3%), Northern Star (+1.5%), Evolution Mining (+2.6%) gained as gold broke $US3,929 per ounce for first time.
• Tech sector – Iress (-2.3%), WiseTech (-2.2%) led sector decline in line with Nasdaq weakness.
• Major miners – Rio Tinto (-1.2%), BHP (-0.4%) fell despite commodity strength.

What's ahead:

• Week ahead quiet on US data front due to government shutdown.
• Wednesday – Fed meeting minutes expected to confirm dovish stance. RBNZ expected to cut OCR by 25bp to 2.75%.
• Friday – RBA Governor Michele Bullock appears before Senate Economics Committee.