ASX trades flat, Aussie at 63.5 US cents

The news: The Australian sharemarket finished mostly flat after a promising lead from Wall St overnight, with the benchmark ASX 200 closing 0.12% higher at 6,780.70. The Aussie dollar rolled over after a modest overnight rally, and is buying 63.5 US cents. Oil lifted slightly after dropping on Monday, with West Texas crude now trading at USD82.74 per barrel.

The numbers: Modest gains in several sectors were weighed down by a weak performance by a handful of miners, with Mineral Resources, Northern Star, Allkem and Pilbara Minerals all giving up more than 3.8%. Inghams jumped 7.9% on a solid earnings outlook, while computer memory producer Weebit Nano lost 8.3%, as it continues to mean-revert after soaring on a licensing deal almost two weeks ago.

The context: The inquiry into ASIC investigation and enforcement continues all day tomorrow, with representatives from Treasury, the UK Transparency Taskforce and AFCA, along with Alan Fels and Perpetual chair Tony D'Aloisio among witnesses giving evidence. BHP, Vicinity Centres, Dominoes and Sims Ltd will hold AGMs. The ABS will release monthly building approvals data in the morning, and the Reserve Bank's commodity price figures follow in the afternoon. Offshore, Eurozone flash CPI estimates and US employment costs are due overnight, with New Zealand employment data to follow tomorrow morning.