Australia shares end higher in a dull week marred by lacklustre data
BHP records worst week since March 2023
Energy stocks record worst week since Jan 2021
Macquarie adds 4.3% for the week
Updates to close
By Roshan Thomas
Sept 6 (Reuters) -Australia shares ended higher on Friday but posted their first weekly loss in four as the country's soft growth data dampened hopes of an early rate cut and volatility in commodity-related stocks weighed on sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 1%lower for the week. It, however ended 0.3%higher on Friday reflecting underlying strength in financials.
Australia reported its June quarter gross domestic product numbers on Wednesday, which showed persisting economic weakness amid stiff borrowing costs and high inflation, depressing investor hopes of an early interest rate cut by the local central bank.
The banking sub-index .AXFJ, which rallied 1.3%for the day, closed the week higher amid expectations of a high interest rate environment. The "Big Four" banks gained between 1.2%and 1.5%on Friday.
"The banks are expected to continue benefiting from a high-interest rate environment as the Reserve Bank of Australia reaffirmed over the week that it is not yet ready to shift policy," said Hebe Chen, market analyst at IG.
Financial conglomerate Macquarie MQG.AX was one of the top gainers on the benchmark and has lifted its market value by 4.3%for the week after announcing plans to sell data centre operator AirTrunk to Blackstone in a A$24 billion ($16.16 billion) deal on Wednesday.
The mining sub-index .AXMM had their worst week in two years, ending 6.5%lower as iron ore futures fell for their sixth straight session on Friday and were set for their largest weekly loss since late October 2022.
BHP Group BHP.AX dropped 5.7%for the week, which was its worstsince March 2023 while Rio Tinto RIO.AX closed 4.3%lower.
Energy stocks .AXEJ had its worst week since January 2021, dragging 9.1%after oil prices hovered near a 14-month low on demand worries in U.S. and China.
The country's largest oil and gas producer, Woodside WDS.AX slumped over 11% in a week where it traded ex-dividend and also issued $2 billion worth of bonds.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 finished the week 1.3% higher.
($1 = 1.4852 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
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
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
