Aust stocks rebound to finish almost flat

The Australian stock exchange has bounced back from its early losses to finish the day nearly flat as the big banks dragged on the market.

After slipping as low as 25.8 points, the benchmark S&P-ASX 200 index closed Monday down just 5.1 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 7125.1.

The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 5.9 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 7221.2.

"It’s a bit of a rock and roll kind of day - after a week of strong gains we often get profit-taking.” said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.

But Asian markets buoyed the local bourse as they opened up despite fears over the coronavirus, Mr McCarthy said.

The energy, tech and property sectors were all higher while telecom and financials were down.

Commonwealth Bank dropped 1.7 per cent to $89.46 following last week’s gains totalling 7.3 per cent.

Among the other big banks, ANZ dropped 0.1 per cent to $26.58 and NAB and Westpac both fell 0.3 per cent, to $27.28 and $25.62, respectively.

Elsewhere in the sector, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was in a trading halt after launching a $300 million capital raising and slashing its interim dividend after its first-half profit slipped two per cent to $215 million.

Insurer QBE was up 4.3 per cent to $14.76 after lifting its half-year statutory profit 41 per cent to $818.8 million despite a surge in natural disaster costs.

Brambles gained 3.9 per cent to $13.14 after the pallet and crate company reported its half-year underlying profit was up five per cent to $647.7 million, while logistics provider Qube Holdings was down 3.7 per cent to $3.38.

Mr McCarthy said that appeared to be a “paired trade” - an institution switching out of Qube and into Brambles.

CSL gained 0.4 per cent to $332.55, after hitting an intraday high of $333.89, taking gains over the past 12 months to 20.6 per cent.

Caltex Australia rose 3.9 per cent to $34.85 after the fuel refiner announced it would give Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tarde the opportunity to conduct more due diligence on its takeover proposal.

National Storage REIT gained 6.2 per cent to an all-time high of $2.40 after announcing after Friday’s close that it had received a tentative takeover proposal from New York Stock Exchange-listed Public Storage for $2.40 cash per share.

In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP dropped 0.5 per cent to $38.47 and Fortescue Metals dropped 0.6 per cent to $10.92, while Rio Tinto gained 0.2 per cent to $97.84.

Goldminers were mixed, with Newcrest down 0.8 per cent, Northern Star up 2.2 per cent and Saracen Minerals gaining 1.9 per cent after announcing a 84 per cent rise in first-half profit.

Telstra dropped 1.3 per cento to $3.72, while Woolworths gained 0.3 per cent to $43.27.

In the tech sector, Afterpay and Xero were both close to their all-time highs, with Afterpay gaining 2.4 per cent to $39.52 and Xero up 1.7 per cent to $88.50.

The Australian dollar was trading at 67.29 US cents, down from 67.18 US on Friday as the market closed.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Monday down 5.1 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 7,125.1 points.

* The All Ordinaries closed down 5.9 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 7,221.2 points.

* At 1718 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was up four points, or 0.06 per cent, at 7,070 points.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 67.29 US cents, from 67.18 US cents on Friday

* 73.93 Japanese yen, from 73.75 yen

* 62.10 euro cents, from 62.01 cents

* 51.60 British pence, from 51.51 pence

* 104.66 NZ cents, from 104.46 cents.