Australian shares rangebound after Fed warns of rate cut delays; Woolworths slumps
May 2 (Reuters) -Australian stocks traded in a tight range on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve warned of delays to interest rate cuts, while Woolworths slumped to a four-year low after flagging customer caution amid sales slowdown and cost-of-living pain.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.1% at 7,580.70 as of 0020 GMT, with gains in financial and gold stocks countering losses in consumer and energy stocks.
The Fed left interest rates on hold on Wednesday, but warned that recent disappointing inflation readings could further delay any impending interest rate cuts.
Investors now await a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) policy meeting due next week, where the central bank is largely expected to keep rates on hold.
"Despite the upside surprise in Q1 CPI, we expect the RBA Board will leave the cash rate at 4.35% at its coming meeting and will not explicitly discuss a rate hike at this meeting," analysts at ANZ wrote in a note.
Australian consumer price inflation slowed less than expected in the first quarter as service cost pressures stayed stubbornly high.
Gold stocks .AXGD gained the most on the benchmark, rising 1.2% on strong bullion prices. Sector major Evolution Mining EVN.AX was up 1.5%. GOL/
Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ climbed 0.7%. Shares of National Australia Bank NAB.AX rose as much as 1.2%, even as the country's second-largest lender reported a drop of about 13% in first-half cash earnings.
Consumer stocks .AXSJ fell almost 2.3% to hit a five-month low, dragged down by Woolworths WOW.AX.
Shares of Woolworths fell as much as 4.8% to their lowest since May 29, 2020, after the country's top supermarket chain reported a slowdown in sales from its biggest segment.
Energy stocks .AXEJ declined almost 1%, after oil prices slumped overnight on the possibility of a Middle East ceasefire agreement. O/R
Shares of energy giants Woodside Energy WDS.AX and Santos STO.AX were down 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was down 0.1% to 11,857.75.
Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
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