Australian shares faded in afternoon trade on Monday as weakness in oil prices weighed on the energy sector. The S&P/ASX 200 index edged up 0.08 percent or 4.1 points at the close of trade. The benchmark fell 1.5 percent on Friday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 0.5 percent or 30.4 points to finish the session at 6,064.4.
US nonfarm payrolls increased 211,000 in November, a healthy outcome that helped sooth jitters about a US interest rate hike later in the month. Yet, the benchmark has only managed to reverse some of Friday's 1.5 percent decline, leaving it back in the middle of a well-worn range. "There is no clear direction or any real conviction in being short or long," said Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG.
With the year-end looming and uncertainty over the effect of the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade, many investors are taking a cautious approach. The big four banks were all higher on Monday, led by a 1.6 percent rise in Commonwealth Bank of Australia. BHP Billiton climbed 0.8 percent. The notable underperformer was the oil & gas sector, which remained under a cloud after Opec members failed to agree on a production ceiling, meaning supply could continue to depress oil prices.
Santos fell 7.1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum slipped 1.7 percent. New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index was relatively flat after falling 0.5 percent in Friday's session. The benchmark inched up 0.03 percent, or 1.81 points, to 6,096.63. New Zealand subsidiaries of Australian banks were among the biggest gainers, with Westpac rising 1.2 percent. Telecommunication company Spark NZ eased 0.3 percent after announcing it was acquiring privately-owned IT infrastructure company CCL. Contact Energy fell more than 5.0 percent to its lowest in over a year after the electricity company said its commercial and industrial sales volume for November was lower than last year.