Miners, real estate stocks pull Australian shares lower

SYDNEY: Australian shares ended marginally lower on Friday, with mining and real estate stocks weighing the most on the benchmark, while hotter-than-expected US inflation print dampened investor sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 0.1% lower at 8,214.5 points. The benchmark rose 0.8% this week, its biggest weekly gain since mid-September.

Overnight, data showed core US consumer inflation came in at 0.3% in September, slightly hotter than expected, which pointed to stalling progress in the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.

However, high weekly jobless claims figures kept bets that the Fed remains on track to cut interest rates in November intact.