Australia shares gain on miners recovery; NAB slides off record high

Australian shares ended slightly higher on Thursday as a rebound in miners offset selling in National Australia Bank after its annual earnings fell short of expectations.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.3% higher at 8,828.30 points.

The benchmark dropped 0.1% on Wednesday, and is down 3% since scaling a lifetime high on October 21.

The mining sub-index ended 1.8% higher, snapping a three-session losing streak in which it fell about 3%.

Gold stocks led gains on the index, as the precious metal’s price firmed.

Australian gold stocks have surged nearly 90% this year, driven by their strong leverage to the precious metal, which is poised to deliver top-tier returns among major asset classes.

Mid-cap gold producers Emerald Resources and Ramelius Resources jumped 6.7% and 5.6%, respectively. Global miners Rio Tinto and BHP added 2.3% and 1.6%, aided by a recovery in iron ore prices.

Meanwhile, NAB, the country’s third largest bank by market capitalisation, briefly touched a record peak at the start of the session but reversed course, slumping 3.3%.

The lender posted an annual profit that slightly missed expectations, raising scrutiny over banks’ sky-high valuations.

“NAB’s business banking crown is increasingly under siege, as rivals like CBA and Westpac double down on lending growth and pricing strategies,” said Hebe Chen, market analyst at Vantage Markets.

Westpac, which recently surpassed NAB’s market capitalisation by a slim margin to become the second-biggest lender, also fell 1.2%, leading the broader financials index 0.1% lower.

Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia, bucked the trend, gaining 1.3% to finish at a near three-month high.

“Stronger sentiment toward CBA and ANZ points to selective rotation within the banking sector,” Chen said.

Elsewhere, local shares of James Hardie Industries tumbled 12.7% to a five-year low after its US peer Trex downgraded its yearly sales outlook, and investment tools provider MSCI removed its depository receipts from its Australia index.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed down 0.3% at 13,576.81 points.