Australian shares edged higher on Friday from a one-year low hit in the previous session, with the financial and consumer staples sectors leading the recovery as investors digested stronger US economic growth data.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 6,833.30 by 0000 GMT after closing 0.6% lower on Thursday.
The US economy accelerated faster than expected in the third quarter, again defying dire warnings of a recession.
In Sydney, financial stocks led the benchmark index higher, rising as much as 0.8%.
The “Big Four” banks gained in the range of 0.6% and 0.9%.
“Despite monthly inflation beating expectations, the new RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) head flagged that they’re going to wait and see whether a hike is needed,” said Mathan Somasundaram, chief executive officer at Deep Data Analytics.
Earlier this week, inflation came in stronger than expected at 1.2% for the third quarter, above market forecasts of 1.1%. Consumer staple stocks advanced about 1.5%, while heavyweight miners rose 0.3% each.
Australian shares end lowest in a year on rate hike worries
Meanwhile, the healthcare and energy indexes fell 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, Core Lithium was among the top gainers for the day, advancing as much as 5.7% after the company reported higher quarterly production and said it was on track to achieve its fiscal year guidance.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 10,786.45.
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