Mining stocks jump over 1%
Gold stocks climb more than 3%
Financial stocks fall 0.6%
Updates to close
By John Biju
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed flat on Monday as losses in heavyweight banking stocks, stemming from U.S. growth concerns, offset a rise in mining stocks, helped by higher commodity prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended 1.7 points, or 0.02%, higher at 8,663.7 after falling as much as 0.4% earlier in the day.
A soft U.S. jobs report for July, released on Friday, raised concerns about slowing economic growth in the world's largest economy.
That spooked investors in Australia as the economy depends on the United States and China for trade and investments. Any change in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path could also influence the interest rate trajectory in Australia.
The sell-off across most markets after the jobs data is a sign that investors are concerned about growth in the United States, said Steven Dooley, head of market insights at foreign exchange platform Convera.
Australia is very much driven by the performance of the Chinese and U.S. economies and concerns about a slowdown in the United States will weigh on the local share market, Dooley said.
On Monday, Australian banks .AXFJ, already under pressure from stretched valuations after a stellar run for the past 18 months, shed 0.6%.
Westpac WBC.AX and ANZ Group ANZ.AX were down 0.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Top lender CBA CBA.AX fell 0.1%.
Energy stocks .AXEJ retreated 0.6% as oil prices slipped after OPEC+ agreed to another large production hike in September. O/R
Capping losses, mining stocks .AXMM jumped 1.4% after iron ore futures prices rose on firm near-term demand for the commodity and healthy steel margins. IRONORE/
Higher copper prices also supported the sub-index. MET/L
Heavyweight miners BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX jumped 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively, while Fortescue FMG.AX climbed 1.5%.
However, volatility in the commodities markets and U.S. tariff uncertainty will likely weigh on mining stocks going forward, Convera's Dooley said.
Gold stocks .AXGD soared 3.6%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 retreated 0.4% to 12,684.04 points.
(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
((John.Biju@thomsonreuters.com;))
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