ASX finishes flat ahead of monthly close

The news: The benchmark ASX/200 index finished relatively flat on Thursday, up 0.1% to 7,305.3, and down 1.42% for the month of August. The Aussie dollar is buying 64.8 US cents, despite a short-lived spike following better than expected manufacturing data from China and a lift in private capital expenditure at home.

The numbers: By sector, energy stocks lost 2.67%, weighed down by Woodside (-3.75%) and Whitehaven Coal (-9.23%) as they traded ex-dividend. Consumer staples lost 1.44%, led by Woolworths (-1.88%), Treasury Wines (-2.10%) and Graincorp (-4.82%). Communications services and IT stocks made modest gains, while industrials lost 0.82%.

The context: European Union CPI flash estimates are due this evening, followed by US core PCE price index and unemployment claims. The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its monthly YoY commodity prices index tomorrow at 4:30pm AEST.