Australia Stocks trade mixed

Headline indices of the Australian financial market were mixed on Tuesday, 11 December 2018, as investors chased for heavily battered stocks after hitting a two-year low yesterday, thanks to reports of further discussions on trade between the U.S. and China. ASX sectors were mixed, with gains in materials and healthcare issues were offset by losses in energy and consumer goods issues. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was tad higher 0.90 point, or 0.02%, to 5,553.40 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 3.12 points, or 0.06%, to 5,630.60 points.

Shares of healthcare issue were top gainer, with benchmark CSL rising 1.4%, Cochlear up 2.2% and ResMed up nearly 4%.

Shares of materials and resources were mostly higher, despite a slide in metals prices in overnight trade. Major miners BHP and Rio Tinto, were up 0.6 and 0.4% respectively, while BlueScope Steel dropped 0.5%.

Energy stocks reversed earlier gains following subdued oil prices, with Woodside, Oil Search, Santos, and Origin posting losses of between 0.3% and 1%.

Shares of banks and financial stocks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank suffering the biggest loss, down 0.5% and Westpac the least, losing 0.3%. Macquarie Group gained 0.7%. QBE Insurance fell nearly 4% after announcing the sales agreements of its operations in Puerto Rico, Indonesia and the Philippines while also looking to cut around A$130 million in costs by 2021.

Shares of consumer facing companies were lower. Supermarkets Woolworths (WOW) and Coles Group (COL) fell 2% and 2.6% respectively. Travel agency, Flight Centre (FLT) was softer by 1.3%.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that house prices in Australia were down 1.5% on quarter in the third quarter of 2018, following the 0.7% drop in the three months prior.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar, seen as a proxy for China-related trades, fell against greenback on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was quoted at $0.71as92, up from $0.7217 on Monday.

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