S&P/ASX200 flat at 8,808.5 as Iran Strait tensions lift Brent above $79 and sink gold miners 1.9%. Ampol jumps 4% on KKR-backed $400M debt facility. Earnings season looms.
Australian equities opened the week with a near-zero move as renewed Persian Gulf fighting pushed oil higher and dragged mining stocks lower.
The S&P/ASX200 added 2.5 points, or 0.03%, to 8,808.5. The All Ordinaries slipped 0.7 points, or 0.01%, to 9,003.
"On the ASX200 the volatility is just seeping out of that market, and I think probably for good reason," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP. "We've got the US earnings season coming up, we've got the Australian earnings season coming up in August, and there's still a fair bit of uncertainty around what's going on in the Middle East and whether the Reserve Bank have finished hiking rates."
Miners came under renewed selling pressure after a brief Friday reprieve. Investors kept rotating into financial stocks, which have gained more than 6% since mid-June. Gold producers were the heaviest drag. The precious metal slipped to $US4,054 ($A5,851) an ounce during the session, pulling the sub-index down 1.9%.
The mega miners were mixed. Fortescue gained 1.6%. Rio lost 0.3%. BHP traded slightly better than flat after calling in the industrial umpire to help avert strike action at Port Hedland. Battery minerals and rare earths producers also sold off.
The energy segment advanced 0.7% as Brent crude held above $US79 a barrel. Iran escalated its attacks on US bases in the Middle East during the session and said it had again halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shares in refinery operator Ampol surged more than 4% after it secured a $400 million subordinated notes debt facility backed by KKR.
Retail stocks were mixed ahead of Westpac and NAB's consumer and business surveys due Tuesday. Discretionaries rose 0.9%. Staples fell by the same degree.
IT stocks were the worst-performing sector, down 2.5%. Xero slumped after CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy unloaded almost $2.2 million in stock to manage her tax obligations.
oOh!Media swung 4% higher after it revealed three suitors were considering takeover offers for the outdoor advertising company.
The Australian dollar bought 69.29 US cents, down from 69.50 US cents on Friday at 5pm, as safe-haven buyers retreated to the greenback.
Some big global names will deliver mid-year earnings this week including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Netflix, Taiwan Semiconductor and Johnson & Johnson. The local earnings season kicks off on July 29 with Rio Tinto's half-year results.
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