Australian shares inch lower as tech, real estate stocks drag

Australian shares inched lower on Friday, dragged down by technology and real estate stocks, while gains in energy stocks limited losses, as investors digested a slew of corporate earnings.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 9.067 by 0001 GMT.

The benchmark ended up 0.3% on Thursday. Technology stocks weighed most on the benchmark as the sub-index shed as much as 1.5%, tracking weakness in Wall Street peers.

Shares of Wisetech Global and NEXTDC declined as much as 3.3% and 2.5%, respectively.

Thursday’s local jobs data fell unexpectedly in July, and the jobless rate hit its highest point since late 2021, easing pressure for another interest rate hike.

However, the weaker jobs data offered little support for retail spending or home-loan applications, a key driver for banks.

Real-estate stocks fell as much as 2.1% to their lowest level since mid-April, while consumer discretionary stocks fell as much as 1.2%.

Banks however, almost trimmed earlier losses and were up as much as 0.3%, with the “Big Four” banks gaining between 0.05% and 0.9%. Energy stocks rose as much as 1.8% to their highest level since mid-April and were on track for their fifth consecutive session of gains, on rising oil prices.

Miners fell as much as 0.6% on weaker iron ore and copper prices.

Mining giants BHP Group and Fortescue fell as much as 1% and 0.3%, respectively, while Rio Tinto gained as much as 1.3%.

Among corporate earnings, shares of Guzman Y Gomez surged as much as 12.6% to near a one-year high after the Mexican-inspired fast-food chain reported a 29.7% rise in annual profit.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was flat at 13,917.53.