Australian shares finish flat as markets eye US jobs data

Australian shares finished the week on a flat note after a relatively quiet day in the markets.

“Traders and investors are clearly reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of tonight's non-farm payrolls numbers in the US,” said Chris Conway, Head of Research at Australian Stock Report.

According to Conway, this reluctance to move was no more evident than in the energy space, which actually managed to eke out a modest gain despite oil slumping close to 5 per cent overnight. 

“Make no mistake about it, tonight's NFP number is extremely important because it will help shape the discussion regarding interest rates in the US, and that in turn will affect the greenback, commodity prices, and interest rate policies around the globe,” added Conway.

Conway also said, “Hopefully we don’t get a poor number like we did last time. It’s pretty important that traders and investors have confidence in the U.S. economy at the moment, particularly given the uncertainty that is evident in some other parts of the western world. “

Back to the local market however, and gains in consumer discretionary and staples, materials, and energy plays, were enough to overcome weakness in healthcare, IT, property and utilities. 

Among the big miners, Rio Tinto (RIO) was the best of the lot, adding close to 2 per cent, whilst Fortescue (FMG) added 0.8 per cent. Wesfarmers (WES) was amongst the best of the staples, whilst Myer (MYR) added 1.4 per cent to be amongst the strongest of the discretionary plays. 

On the day the ASX 200 eked out a three-point gain, settling at 5231.

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