Banks propel Australian shares to record highs ahead of jobs data
Oct 17 (Reuters) -Australian shares hit a record high on Thursday, buoyed by strong gains in local banks and energy stocks, while investors wait for a local jobs data report due later in the day in order to assess the country's central bank's interest rate trajectory.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose as much as 1% to 8,364.7 points, before paring some gains, by 2337 GMT. The benchmark closed down 0.4% on Wednesday.
Markets are on watch for Australian employment figures due later on Thursday for cues on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) stance on interest rates.
The RBA has not ruled out either a rate hike or a cut, depending on the data to follow in the near term, according to its minutes earlier this month.
Interest-rate sensitive domestic financial stocks .AXFJ shored up the benchmark index, rising 1.1% as the "Big Four" banks moved up between 1% and 1.4%.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX, one of the "Big Four" as the country's largest bank, was 1.6% higher.
The lender was fined A$7.5 million ($4.99 million) by the local communications watchdog for sending over 170 million spam messages to customers.
Local energy stocks .AXEJ were the largest percentage gainers on the ASX 200 index, rising 1.7% despite oil prices falling. O/R
Sector major Santos STO.AX rose 1.2% even as the country's second-largest oil and gas producer posted a 3% sequential drop in third-quarter revenue on Thursday.
Local miners .AXMM on the benchmark rose 0.7%, while the world's biggest listed miner, BHP Group BHP.AX, was flat, as the company beat first-quarter iron ore output estimates on Thursday, and saw higher copper production for the quarter.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose marginally by 0.2% to 12,671.95 points in early trade.
Inflation in the country returned to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's target range of 1% to 3% in the third quarter, which could open up doors for the country's central bank to continue cutting interest rates aaggressively.
($1 = 1.5017 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona
For more information on DIARIES & DATA: U.S. earnings diary RESF/US Wall Street Week Ahead .N/O Global Economy Week Ahead DATA/ ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets NEWS1
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
