Australian shares inch lower as banks, tech stocks drag

Australian shares edged lower on Wednesday after notching their biggest daily rise since mid-November in the previous session, as losses in banks and technology stocks outweighed gains in index heavyweight miners.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 8,842.60 by 2329 GMT after a 0.9% gain on Tuesday.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised interest rates for the first time in two years on Tuesday, as persistently sticky inflation in a supply-constrained economy forced the board’s hand to tighten monetary policy.

“The RBA’s forecasts, overall, now show a far worse trade-off between real GDP and inflation.

However, this largely reflects the reality of an economy with productivity growth, which has been nearly flat for almost a decade,“ UBS said in a note.

The brokerage said it now expects another quarter-point rate hike at the central bank’s next meeting in May.

Market participants also echoed the sentiment, with swaps implying a 72.1% probability of a cash rate hike in May.

Financials fell 1.5% and were on pace to snap three straight sessions of gains that saw the sub-index book a 1.4% rise.

The “big four” banks declined between 1.4% and 2.1%.

Technology stocks fell 6.4% to hit their lowest since early February 2024, after Wall Street closed lower overnight as investor worries on artificial intelligence creating more competition for software makers piqued.

Accounting software maker Xero was among the major laggards on the main index with a drop of 11.8%, while logistics software maker WiseTech Global fell 5.3%.

Miners advanced 3.1%, after copper and precious metals recouped losses suffered earlier this week. BHP and Rio Tinto rose 3.7% and 3.5%, respectively.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index declined 0.5% to 13,350.09.

The island nation’s fourth-quarter jobless rate rose to its highest in a decade, giving the central bank no chance of a move at its meeting on February 18.