Australian shares flat; Rio Tinto drags miners down after potential merger talks

Insignia Financial

17/01/2025 24:50

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares traded flat on Friday, with gains in healthcare
firms offset by losses in miners, including Rio Tinto  RIO.AX , which tumbled on speculation
around early-stage merger talks with London-listed smaller rival Glencore  GLEN.L .
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  marginally fell 0.1% to 8,322.2 points by 2322 GMT. The
benchmark is on track to record a second consecutive weekly gain.
    Rio Tinto's shares fell 1.21% following reports of brief, unsuccessful merger talks with
Glencore late last year, despite earlier speculation by Bloomberg News of ongoing early-stage
discussions.
    Meanwhile, local employment surprised markets as it sped past forecasts in December. Traders
now see a 69% probability of the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting rates during its first
meeting on Feb. 18.  0#AUDIRPR 
    Upcoming fourth-quarter inflation data later this month will likely be crucial, with
analysts expecting core inflation to rise 0.6% or less, potentially the smallest increase since
mid-2021.
    Banks  .AXFJ , which have historically benefitted from higher-for-longer interest rates,
slipped 0.2%, with the country's top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX  falling
0.3%. 
    Miners  .AXMM  declined 0.5%, with sector major BHP  BHP.AX  falling 0.3%. The subindex is
set to log its fourth straight week of gains.
    Healthcare stocks  .AXHJ  gained 0.6%, with biotech firm CSL  CSL.AX  rising 0.2%, as the
Aussie dollar remains under pressure.  AUD/ 
    Energy stocks  .AXEJ  lost 0.2% on the back of declining oil prices, with subindex leaders
Woodside Energy  WDS.AX  and Santos  STO.AX  little changed.  O/R 
    Separately, Lynas Rare Earths  LYC.AX  fell 4.8% after the world's largest producer of rare
earths outside of China missed consensus estimates for its quarterly sales revenue.
    Insignia Financial  IFL.AX  rose 5.2%, its highest level in over three years, as suitor CC
Capital sweetened their bid for the firm, higher than Bain Capital's offer.
    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  was marginally up 0.2% at 13,020 points,
set for their best week since Dec. 23. Local inflation data for the fourth quarter is due on
Jan. 22.

 (Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
 ((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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