Miners, banks weigh heavy on Australian shares; energy shines

Australian shares slid on Thursday, snapping a two-day winning streak, as banks and technology stocks weakened and miners tracked lower on softer resource prices, while energy stocks rose to their highest level since early April 2024.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.5% to 8,509.30 points as of 2340 GMT.

The benchmark closed 0.3% higher on Wednesday.

The mining sub-index slumped as much as 4.3%, to its lowest since January 2, pressured by a decline in iron ore prices.

Moreover, softer gold prices due to a stronger dollar also weighed on the sub-index.

Mining majors Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue lost between 2.2% and 3%. Gold miners dropped as much as 8% to their near four-month low.

Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources declined 6.5% and 6.8%, respectively. Financials slipped 0.5%, with the “Big Four” banks down between 0.6% and 0.9%.

In contrast to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate hike earlier in the week, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged overnight, with a rate cut projected later in the year.

The local technology index fell as much as 3.3% to its lowest since February 25, tracking losses from its US peers.

Major tech firms NEXTDC and Xero fell 1% and 3.2%, respectively.

Bucking the trend, the energy sub-index surged as much as 3.5% to its highest since early April 2024, shadowing a rise in oil prices as Iran launched attacks on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure.

Energy producers Viva Energy and Woodside Energy climbed as much as 9.5% and 3.9%, respectively.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.6% to 13,104.21 points.

Data released earlier in the day showed that the island nation’s economy grew 0.2% in the fourth quarter, falling short of analysts’ expectations and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s forecast of a rise of 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.