The Australian sharemarket recouped early losses on Monday with help from banks and iron ore miners. The S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 36.6 points, or 0.5 per cent higher at 7192.3, despite moving into negative territory in early trading. The Tech sector large-caps WiseTech and Xero weighed on the market in early morning trading before some better than expected China CPI & Credit growth numbers helped the Australian market to finish in positive territory by the close.
Positive data from China helped iron ore prices which in turn pushed materials stocks higher. BHP rose 1.1 per cent to $43.66, Rio Tinto was up 1.1 per cent to $112.40 and Fortescue Metals up 1.2 per cent to $19.63.
Financials were the best performing sector with Commonwealth Bank shares up 1.2 per cent to $102.04, ANZ up 1.4 per cent to $25.28, NAB up 1.4 per cent to $29.05 and Westpac up 1.8 per cent to $21.55.
In company news, Syrah Resources jumped 7 per cent to 61¢ after the graphite producer secured a US$150 million ($234.6 million) loan for its Balama operation in Mozambique.
Scrap metal recycler Sims was the worst performing, down 11.15 per cent. The company is now forecasting earnings to break even in the first quarter of FY24, due to ongoing scrap price and demand issues.
On Tuesday, India will release its inflation and industrial output figures for August, while China will announce its industrial output, retail sales, and most notably, house sale prices on Friday.
The SPI futures closed up 46 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Financials, up 1.27 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Healthcare, down 0.67 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC), closing 3.53 per cent higher at $7.33. It was followed by shares in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) and carsales.com (ASX:CAR).
The worst-performing large cap was Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL), closing 3.37 per cent lower at $4.88. It was followed by shares in Cleanaway Waste Management (ASX:CWY) and EBOS Group (ASX:EBO).
Company news
Sunstone Metals (ASX: STM) have announced that the second hole at the T3 porphyry target within its El Palmar project in Northern Ecuador has intersected strong gold-copper mineralisation. STM closed down 13% at $0.02 cents.
Atturra Limited (ASX: ATA) has announced it has entered into a binding scheme of arrangement to acquire 100% of leading managed services and IT solutions provider Cirrus Networks (ASX: CNW). The deal values Cirrus shares at 5.3¢ apiece, around a 30 per cent premium to their close on Friday. ATA closed down 4.47% at $0.855 cents
ABx Group (ASX: ABX) has announced a 5 year agreement with Adelaide Brighton Cement for the supply of bauxite from ABx’s DL130 Bauxite Project. The first shipment is anticipated to be in Q1 2024. ABX closed up 12% at $0.093 cents
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,951.00 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.8 per cent lower at US$116.80 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.98 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.45 lower at US$87.06 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 64.41 US cents.