Energy weighs ASX down as gold miners rally

The Australian sharemarket opened slightly lower, weighed down by energy and technology stocks, after global sentiment soured on fresh signs of a slowdown in the US economy.
A softer-than-expected July US non-farm payrolls report spurred concerns about the world's largest economy. Just 73,000 jobs were added during the month - well short of the 100,000 forecast by economists.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.1 per cent, or 11.90 points, to 8650.10 at 10.15am AEST , with seven of the 11 sectors trading lower. Energy led the declines as Brent crude fell below $US70 a barrel on concerns about the US outlook. Woodside dropped 1.9 per cent and Ampol fell 1.1 per cent.
Tech stocks also slumped, with NextDC down 2.1 per cent and WiseTech Global falling 1.7 per cent as it completed its largest-ever acquisition: the $US2.1 billion ($3.25 billion) purchase of Texas-based e2Open.
Gold jumped 2.3 per cent to $US3359.20 an ounce after the sharp slowdown in US jobs growth raised expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts as early as September. Newmont rose 0.5 per cent, Northern Star rallied 3.3 per cent, and Evolution Mining climbed 3 per cent.
Major miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals were all modestly higher, up about 0.3 per cent.

Sumber : AFR