SYDNEY: Australian shares ended little changed on Friday but posted their worst week in nearly a month, as losses in miners and energy stocks offset bank gains after dovish Fed remarks.
The S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2 percent lower at 9,005.90 points, posting its worst week since August 10. The benchmark gained 0.5 percent on Thursday.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said benign inflation data could strengthen the case for the Fed to keep rates on hold at its policy meeting later this month.
Cameron Curko, CIO of independent accounting firm Pitcher Partners, said the remarks were supportive of the Australian dollar because they reduced the likelihood of further US rate hikes and made the US dollar less attractive.
“AUD-positive moves are bad for export earners such as miners, healthcare names and some select others due to currency headwind.”
Miners fell 0.9 percent, their steepest weekly drop in two months, with BHP down 2.4 percent and Rio Tinto slipping 0.7 percent.
“There are more prosaic reasons with some of the majors trading ex-dividend e.g. BHP. Another factor might be higher energy costs weighing on medium term growth expectations,” added Curko.
Energy stocks slipped 1.2 percent. Ampol and Viva Energy led losses on the sub-index, sliding 6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, as their shares traded ex-dividend.
Cushioning the broader losses, financials rose marginally higher, reporting its best week in two months, with all of the “Big Four” lenders trading higher.
Analysts at Capital Economics now expect Australia’s central bank to deliver another 25-basis-point increase at its meeting later this month, citing economic growth and trimmed mean inflation that show little sign of slowing.
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