Australian shares closed lower on Friday, with miners and banks leading losses, after strong economic data from the United States reignited fears of further aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.6% lower at 7,107.70 points. The benchmark shed 0.6% for the week, marking its third straight week of losses.
Declines on the local bourse came as U.S. weekly jobless claims data pointed to a still tight labour market, while the economy rebounded faster than previously estimated in the third quarter.
“There’s still some nervousness at the moment. But we’ve had some very good news in consumer sentiment (from the U.S.) so all in all it is balanced,” said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.
“I still remain positive going into the first quarter of next year,” said Smoling.
Financials retreated 0.5%, with three of the country’s largest lenders falling between 0.2% and 0.8%.
Miners lost 0.5%. Sector heavyweights BHP Group and Fortescue Metals declined 0.2% and 0.6%, while Rio Tinto rose 0.5% to limit overall losses.
Australian shares end higher on US consumer confidence, bank boost
Energy stocks dropped 1.1%, although the sub-index posted a 0.6% gain this week. Oil and gas majors Woodside Energy and Santos fell 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively.
Gold stocks climbed 2.9% for the week, marking their best week since early December. But the sub-index fell 1.4% on Friday, with the country’s largest gold miner Newcrest Mining ending 1.5% lower.
Among individual stocks, ReadyTech Holdings slumped as much as 11.1% to its lowest since Oct. 25 after Pacific Equity Partners pulled the plug on a deal to acquire the software firm.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 closed 0.3% lower at 11,494.96. The benchmark lost 0.9% this week and recorded its worst week since Oct. 14.
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