ASX loses 0.4%, energy and financial stocks lead losses

The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Monday despite solid gains is US markets on Friday. The benchmark ASX 200 lost 0.4% to close at 6,948.80, as energy stocks and a handful of big financial players dragged on the index. The Aussie dollar has been consolidating above the November open and is buying 63.6 US cents. Oil prices were weaker again after a small rally on Friday, as poor expected demand from the US and China pushed Brent and West Texas crude below 100-day averages to USD82.31 and USD86.61 a barrel.

The numbers: Energy stocks tracked with weaker oil prices to finish 0.9% lower on Monday, and 5.1% down on a week ago. Santos and Whitehaven Coal fell 1.7% each while Ampol lifted 0.8%. Financial stocks were down 0.5%, after ANZ shares tumbled 2.8% after reporting a drop in annual margins. Macquarie also had a rough day, losing 2.4% as it traded ex-dividend.

The context: Westpac and NAB's consumer and business confidence surveys come out tomorrow, but Australia's big data days this week will be Wednesday for the wage price index and Thursday for unemployment figures. Further abroad, investors, analysts and economists will watching the US inflation data release on Tuesday night, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday the Fed would "not hesitate" to raise rates if price stability remained elusive. Goodman Group and Beach Energy will hold AGMs tomorrow.