The local stock market traded flat today after investors lost their mojo on news that Donald Trump's U.S. government had bombed Syria in a move that threatens to escalate geo-political tensions over the problems in the Middle East. Below is a summary of today's trade.
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.1% to 5,862 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.1% to 5,902 points
- AUD/USD down 0.1% to US 75.35 cents
- Iron Ore at US$80.90 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold flat at US$1,263 an ounce
- WTI oil futures at US$52.61 a barrel
The best performing companies among the S&P/ASX 200 were the gold miners Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) which climbed 5.6% and 4.4% respectively as increased international tensions can often encourage investors to flee to safe haven assets such as gold.
Among the worst performers were iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and Mantra Group Ltd (ASX: MTR) which fell 3% and 2.4% respectively despite announcing no news to the market. Mantra has been the subject of takeover speculation recently and its shares may be giving back some gains as a result of that speculation receding.
Wall Street could be in for a volatile session tonight with key U.S. economic jobs data due to be released, a number of companies reporting quarterly earnings ,and the growing tensions over the war in Syria.