Banks help Australia shares rebound; miners and energy lag

Genesis Minerals

17/12/2024 24:09

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended its five-day losing streak on Tuesday as
gains in banks outweighed losses by mining and energy stocks, while investors globally pondered
over the outlook for U.S. policy easing beyond this week.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  rose 0.2% to 8265.9 by 2335 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.6%
lower on Monday.
    Financials sub-index  .AXFJ  led the benchmark higher by advancing 0.4%, with shares of the
"Big Four" banks up between 0.2% and 0.4%.  
    Meanwhile miners  .AXMM  lost 0.5% on the back of declining metal prices.  MET/L  
    Mining behemoths BHP Group  BHP.AX , Rio Tinto  RIO.AX  and Fortescue  FMG.AX  lost between
0.4% and 1.1%. 
    Energy stocks  .AXEJ  shed 1.1% as oil prices slipped on consumer spending weakness in
China, the world's largest oil importer, and as investors paused buying ahead of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.  O/R 
    Sector heavyweights Woodside  WDS.AX  and Santos  STO.AX  were down 1.4% each.
    The Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday and is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points to a
new range of 4.25% to 4.50%. Investors would be keenly looking for any guidance on future
easing, with futures implying just two rate cuts for all of 2025.
    Domestic gold stocks  .AXGD  fell by 0.3% with shares of Northern Star Resources  NST.AX 
and Genesis Minerals  GMD.AX  down 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively. 
    Technology stocks  .AXIJ  tracked their overseas peers higher, and were up 0.2%. 
    Shares of Wisetech Global  WTC.AX , NEXTDC Ltd  NXT.AX   were up 0.5% each. 
    Among individual stocks, Australian oil and gas producer Karoon Energy  KAR.AX  fell as much
as 7.5%, to record its worst day since Aug. 29, on cutting production outlook for its Baúna
project in Brazil due to operational disruptions.
    Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  rose 0.1% to 12811.6
points.
    
             

 (Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
 ((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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