ASX trades flat, energy stocks rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished mostly flat on Monday, despite a rally in energy and communication services stocks. The benchmark ASX 200 closed 0.03% lower to 7,496.30, while the All Ordinaries edged 0.01% lower.
The numbers: Energy stocks gained 2.2%, led by a 4.2% surge in Santos' price after the Federal Court gave its blessing for the oil and gas giant's Barossa LNG pipeline project. Oil prices edged higher after Houthi rebels attacked a US warship in the Red Sea in response to Friday's airstrikes from the US and its allies. Brent crude futures are trading at US78.24 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is trading at USD72.87 a barrel.
Uranium plays performed well, with Deep Yellow, Boss Energy, Paladin and Silex Systems surging more than 7% each as uranium price continued to rally. Lithium miners caught the other end of the stick, as the commodity's ailing price is beginning to realise fears of asset impairments. Sayona Mining lost 7.3%, while Pilbara Minerals was down 4.5%.
The Australian dollar has been rangebound since 5 January and is buying 66.9 US cents.
The context: Westpac will release its consumer sentiment survey tomorrow morning, and the ABS will update its November building approvals data. Tomorrow night, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will post quarterly results, and China will release quarterly GDP figures on Wednesday afternoon.
