Yahoo Finance ASX closes flat on virus woes
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 (^AXJO) has finished flat, up just 0.032 per cent at close of trade on Monday.
The broader All Ordinaries index (^AORD) also finished flat, down 0.059 per cent.
What happened this morning?
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 (^AXJO) opened 0.86 per cent lower at 10.16 AEST, after a spike in coronavirus cases in the US and Victoria concerned investors.
The broader All Ordinaries index (^AORD) also opened 0.86 per cent down at 10.16 AEST.
All sectors were down except for materials.
Consumer discretionary and industrials were the least popular sectors, lower by 1.99 per cent, while energy was down 1.69 per cent. Financials fared a little better, lower by 0.79 per cent.
It comes as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reimposed restrictions over the weekend, after 25 new virus cases were recorded on Saturday and a further 19 on Sunday.
The Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe is due to speak on the global economy and Covid-19 at a leadership forum at the Australian National University in Canberra on Monday.
One Australian dollar was buying 68.19 US cents at 0800 AEST, down from 68.59 US cents at the close of trade on Friday.
What happened over the weekend?
The S&P 500 ended lower after a tumultuous session, as investors weighed spiking cases of the Covid-19 and Apple store closures against anticipated stimulus measures.
"You've got these duelling forces with Fed stimulus and the consumer spending again on one side, and on the other side the resurgence (of COVID-19) in pockets of areas around the globe," said Matthew Keator, managing partner of wealth management firm, Keator Group, told AAP.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 208.64 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 25,871.46, the S&P 500 lost 17.53 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 3,097.81 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.07 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 9,946.12.
Despite closing in the red, the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq posted solid percentage gains across the week.
With AAP.
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