The Australian share market has surrendered most of its early gains to close almost flat in the wake of positive leads from US and European markets and the decision by global oil producers to limit production lifts the energy sector.
The local bourse surged in early trading in the wake of a deal by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers over the weekend to reduce global oil output.
But in the afternoon session, most of those gains faded.
“We had some good gains from European and US markets on Friday night, and over the weekend the news that the Saudis had made further progress in talking to other producers around the globe seemed to excite the oil market,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
“But it was a bit of a round trip today, because although we had a lot of enthusiasm in the opening session from the day traders, there didn’t seem to be much follow-through from cash investors.”
Mr McCarthy said volumes traded on Monday were low – hitting 2.77 billion shares traded compared to 2.9 billion on Friday.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum rose 89 cents, or 2.9 per cent to $31.48, Santos climbed 22 cents, or 5.12 per cent, to $4.52, and Oil Search jumped 24 cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $7.15.
Elsewhere in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton added 34 cents to $26.32, Rio Tinto put on 14 cents to $62.79, and Fortescue Metals strengthened 16 cents to $6.84.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was 25 cents richer at $80.92, Westpac firmed two cents at $32.30, National Australia Bank nudged up one cent to $29.70, and ANZ lost 10 cents to $29.82.
In other company news, dairy co-operative Murray Goulburn’s listed entity, the MG Unit Trust, was 2.5 cents lower at 91 cents as Murray Goulburn appointed a new chief executive, former brewery executive Ari Mervis.
Infant formula maker Bellamy’s was in a trading halt ahead of another trading update less than two weeks after a surprise announcement that wiped more than $500 million off the company’s market value. Bellamy’s last traded at $6.68.
Cover-More Group surged 55.5 cents, or 42.2 per cent, to $1.87 after the travel insurer agreed to a $741 million takeover by Zurich Insurance.
Engineering firm Downer EDI rose 11 cents to $6.19. A joint venture between Downer and France’s Keolis has secured a 10-year contract to operate the integrated public transport system in Newcastle city, worth $450 million.
KEY FACTS:
* At 1626 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 2.2 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 5,562.8 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 3.3 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 5,619.1 points.
* The December share price index futures contract was up 16 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 5,575 points, with 115,180 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.77 billion securities traded, worth $5.7 billion.
