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Australia’s sharemarket finished flat on Monday as investors weighed fresh tensions in the Middle East against a strong rebound in technology stocks.
The benchmark S & P/ASX 200 edged down 2.3 points to 8729.4, surrendering only a fraction of Friday’s 138-point rally despite growing geopolitical uncertainty overseas.
The broader market delivered a mixed performance, with just three of the 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. Information technology was the standout, surging 5.61 per cent as investors piled back into beaten-down growth stocks.
SiteMinder led the gains on the ASX 200, jumping 11.7 per cent to $3.91, while logistics software giant WiseTech Global rallied 9.1 per cent to $39.30.
Pro Medicus climbed 8.9 per cent, Xero gained 8 per cent and Technology One advanced 6.6 per cent.
At the other end of the market, DroneShield slumped 8.6 per cent following a broker downgrade, while sleep treatment manufacturer ResMed fell 7.5 per cent. Lendlease, Judo Capital and Temple & Webster also finished lower.
The major banks were mixed, with Westpac rising 0.44 per cent and National Australia Bank adding 0.35 per cent. Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.96 per cent, while ANZ finished virtually unchanged.
The Australian dollar was buying US72.1 cents late on Monday.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the flat result masked a challenging backdrop for investors.
“We started the week in a cautious mode. There was a very strong rally on Friday … just not able to quite build on that today,” Mr Sycamore said.
He pointed to renewed Middle East uncertainty after reports US President Donald Trump was seeking changes to a proposed peace deal, while ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and Lebanon weighed on sentiment and pushed oil higher.
Brent crude rose about 1.8 per cent to $US93.50 a barrel.
Despite the geopolitical backdrop, Mr Sycamore said US equity markets appeared largely unfazed.
“You’ve got the Nasdaq up around 0.6 per cent and they just don’t seem to really care that much about what’s going on with the oil market,” he said.
“It will matter at some point, but we’ve been able to see US markets look through that and focus on the AI side of things.”
While most sectors struggled, technology stocks continued to recover after a prolonged sell-off that saw the sector fall more than 50 per cent from its highs.
Mr Sycamore said investors were beginning to return to the sector after months of heavy declines.
“It’s got a long way to claw back given that it did fall by over 50 per cent,” he said.
“But if it keeps going like this each day it’ll certainly make some headway.”
He described the rally in stocks such as WiseTech, Xero and SiteMinder as evidence that “green shoots” were emerging across the technology sector.
Investors will now turn their attention to key economic data due later this week, including Australian gross domestic product figures.
Mr Sycamore said the numbers would provide an important snapshot of how the economy was performing before the full impact of recent global uncertainty and higher interest rates began flowing through.
“It is a big week to see how the Australian economy was tracking into these headwinds,” he said.
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