Australian shares have had a shaky session as oil prices continued to weigh on confidence and select miners jumped after China announced fiscal stimulus.
The S&P/ASX200 rose five points, or 0.06 per cent, to 9,010.9 on Monday as the broader All Ordinaries gained 4.6 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 9,200.6.
Energy stocks outperformed the bourse, up 1.7 per cent as oil prices hit seven-week highs after the US and Iran exchanged tit-for-tat strikes at the weekend.
Major miners helped support the bourse with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue lifting after China's government flagged a $US54 billion ($A75 billion) injection into state banks and insurers to shore up its financial sector.
The announcement helped push iron ore futures above $US100 a tonne for the first time since July 2.
Gold stocks capped the gains in raw materials as the precious metal eased to $US4,393 ($A6,092), after a stronger-than expected US jobs report increased the odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
Interest rate markets have continued to narrow their bets on a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hike, now fully pricing a hike by November 3.
The market was also now pricing a near 70 per cent probability of an RBA hike in September, Global X ETF strategy analyst Joseph Marassa said.
"If energy and materials continue to diverge from rate-sensitive sectors, leaving the index trading broadly flat, capital gains from equities are likely to be limited," he said.
The heavyweight financials sector inched 0.2 per cent higher on the back of decent performances by NAB and CommBank, while ANZ, Macquarie, Suncorp and AMP lost ground.
Technology stocks underperformed, diving 2.6 per cent in a broad-based sell-off.
Consumer staples, discretionary retail, utilities, communications and healthcare stocks also fell.
In company news, Southern Cross Media has appointed Ryan Stokes as non-executive chair, seven months after his father stepped down from the company.
Kogan founder and boss Ruslan Kogan could make $50 million over the next five years if the company's share price tops and holds above more than double its current value in a new pay deal.
In other company news, Worley has won contracts for engineering, procurement construction services at two of BHP's South Australian copper projects.
The Australian dollar is buying 72.15 US cents, up from 72.04 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 gained five points, or 0.06 per cent, to 9,010.9
* The broader All Ordinaries rose by 4.6 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 9,200.6
One Australian dollar trades for:
* 72.15 US cents, from 72.04 US cents at 5pm AEST on Friday
* 112.45 Japanese yen, from 112.60 Japanese yen
* 62.12 euro cents, from 61.96 euro cents
* 53.34 British pence, from 53.20 pence
* 122.80 NZ cents, from 122.22 NZ cents
