Australian shares fell on Friday, dragged down by miners and financials, after comments from US Federal Reserve officials pushed market participants to reassess how deeply the central bank will be able to cut interest rates this year.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.5% to 7,778.30 by 0005 GMT, shedding 1.6% so far in the week in what would be its first weekly drop in three.
The benchmark closed up 0.5% on Thursday.
On Thursday, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said he pencilled in two rate cuts this year at the last policy meeting, but if inflation continued to stall, no rate cuts might happen this year.
Earlier in the day, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the US central bank had “time for the clouds to clear” on inflation before starting to cut rates.
On Wednesday, Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell stuck with a cautious rate-cut strategy. In Sydney, miners were the biggest drag, shedding 0.8%.
BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue fell between 0.4% and 1.1%. Rate-sensitive financials declined 0.6%, with the “Big Four” banks down between 0.3% and 0.9%.
Gold stocks inched lower 0.2%, but were on track a third straight weekly gain. Gold miners Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining retreated 1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Financials, rate-cut bets drive Australian shares higher
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 11,980.20.
According to a Reuters poll, New Zealand’s central bank is expected to leave its key interest rates unchanged for a sixth consecutive meeting on Wednesday and might wait until the third quarter to cut rates.
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