AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.34%)
BOP 5.14 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.78%)
CNERGY 4.55 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.94%)
DFML 37.15 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (3.66%)
DGKC 89.90 Increased By ▲ 1.90 (2.16%)
FCCL 22.40 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.9%)
FFBL 33.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.95%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.41%)
GGL 10.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.46%)
HBL 115.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.35%)
HUBC 137.10 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (0.93%)
HUMNL 9.95 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.12%)
KEL 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
KOSM 4.83 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.65%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.33%)
OGDC 138.20 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.22%)
PAEL 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.16%)
PIAA 24.24 Decreased By ▼ -2.04 (-7.76%)
PIBTL 6.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.3%)
PPL 123.62 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (0.59%)
PRL 27.40 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.66%)
PTC 13.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.71%)
SEARL 61.75 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (5.2%)
SNGP 70.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.36%)
SSGC 10.52 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.54%)
TELE 8.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
TPLP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-2.46%)
TRG 64.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.33%)
UNITY 26.76 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.73%)
WTL 1.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 7,874 Increased By 36.2 (0.46%)
BR30 25,599 Increased By 139.8 (0.55%)
KSE100 75,342 Increased By 411.7 (0.55%)
KSE30 24,214 Increased By 68.6 (0.28%)

Australian shares were largely flat on Wednesday, as early gains were countered by subdued mining stocks, domestic inflation data and a sharp fall in Woolworths Group after the supermarket major flagged a slowdown in sales.

The benchmark ASX 200 index ended flat at 7,448.7 points.

Markets were rattled after Australia's core inflation accelerated to a six-year high in the September quarter, fuelling fears that interest rates could be hiked sooner than previously advised by the country's central bank.

"The CPI number has made two- and three-year bond rates go through the roof in terms of the yield, and the market is now starting to adjust to the fact that we will get some rates increases, maybe even towards the back end of 2022," Henry Jennings, senior analyst at the Marcustoday Financial Newsletter said.

The Australian dollar firmed 0.4% after the data release, while short-term bond yields touched their highest since late 2019.

The metals and mining sector was the top decliner on the benchmark, sliding 1.2% on weak iron ore prices.

Global mining majors Rio Tinto and BHP group lost 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

Gold stocks also tripped, with Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd losing most with an 11.1% drop.

The heavyweight financial sector closed at its highest level since May 2017.

Three of the "Big Four" lenders were trading up between 0.6% and 1.4% ahead of their earnings release.

Meanwhile, Woolworths' 3.2% decline on warning that lockdown-fuelled sales were slowing also weighed on peer Coles Group, down 1%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.4% lower at 13,020.26 points, with dairy firms A2 Milk Company Ltd and Synlait Milk Ltd leading losses.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.03%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.1%.

Comments

Comments are closed.