The S&P/ASX200 is up 0.3% to 5,894.7 points whilst the broader All Ordinaries Index has also started strongly, up 0.3% to 5,958.4 points at the time of writing.
However, it's a different story for ASX200 metals and mining stocks with the likes of Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL), St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) all down by between 1-4% in early trade.
Today's early decline follows last week's losses for Australia's miners as structural headwinds for trade and the broader commodities sector persist. The threat of a hard Brexit in late March continues to loom, with a hard exit from the European bloc appearing increasingly likely by the day. Softer commodities prices fuelled share price volatility last week and slowing Chinese economic growth (with data to be released today) is compounding the headwinds facing the sector.
Metals and mining stocks have been up and down in the last few years, to say the least. Saracen Mineral is up 93.65% over the past year, whilst St Barbara has also netted investors a tidy 20.63% return over the same period. Regis has been the laggard of the group with a comparatively low 12.85% for its investors. The numbers are even more staggering on a 3-year basis with Saracen, St Barbara and Regis delivering a mammoth 296.58%, 181.71% and 100.34% returns, respectively. As the saying goes though, all good things must come to an end.
Both Saracen Mineral and St Barbara are in the negative for the year following last week's performance spilling over into today, whilst Regis is barely up at 0.21% YTD higher at time of writing. I would expect further pain for Australia's miners before things get better but keen-eyed fools may still find tactical investment opportunities in these turbulent times.
Foolish takeaway
Whilst most of the metals and mining companies have been hammered on the ASX today following last week's decline, quality companies should continue to deliver for investors.
I like graphite producer Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR) which is down 2.28% in this morning's trade and could be picked up for a comparative bargain. The stock is up 25% so far this year on the back of strong commercial production data coming out of its Mozambique-based Balama operations, and with operations up and running, I believe it could continue its bull run and be a winner over the next 12 months.
