Australia shares rise; New Zealand falls as cenbank hikes rate

Kiwi Property

25/05/2022 08:13

* RBNZ hikes official cash rate by 50 basis points
    * Kiwi gains after RBNZ rate decision
    * Mining, financial stocks lift ASX

 (Updates to close)
    By Himanshi Akhand
    May 25 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday, led
by gains in heavyweight mining and financial stocks, while New
Zealand equities fell after the country's central bank raised
interest rates and sharply lifted its projection for future
hikes.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  closed 0.4% higher at
7,155.20. The benchmark fell 0.3% on Tuesday. 
    The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised interest rates by 50
basis points to 2.0%, its fifth straight rate hike, as it seeks
to check inflation and signalled the cash rate would peak at a
higher level than previously forecast.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2XH04H
    The New Zealand dollar  NZD=D3  climbed, while the benchmark
S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  ended 0.7% lower at 11,173.37 after
rising as much as 0.6% earlier.
    "We expect these reactions to extend further over the next
few days, given the outcome is a significant hawkish surprise,"
Imre Speizer, head of NZ strategy at Westpac, said in a note.
    Medical device maker Fisher & Paykel Healthcare  FPH.NZ 
fell 3.9%, after its full-year profit dropped.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2XG13B
    Building material provider Fletcher Building  FBU.NZ  and
real estate investment company Kiwi Property  KPG.NZ  fell 2.7%
and 1.9%, respectively.
    In Australia, heavyweight mining stocks  .AXMM  and
financial stocks  .AXFJ  led gains, rising 0.6% and 0.8%,
respectively.
    Gold stocks  .AXGD  rose 2% on strong bullion prices.  GOL/ 
    Technology stocks  .AXIJ  dropped 3%, as S&P 500 and
tech-focused Nasdaq ended lower overnight on concerns about
rising inflation and a sell-off in social media stocks sparked
by Snapchat-owner Snap Inc's  SNAP.N  profit warning.  .N 
    Software company Megaport  MP1.AX  fell 5.4%, while
Australia-listed shares of Block Inc  SQ2.AX  slipped 5.5%. 
    "We saw a reasonable broad-based rally as the market is
slowly feeling better about itself and investors anticipate that
the Fed won't be able to do as many rate rises as they have
conveyed to the market," said Brad Smoling, managing director of
Smoling Stockbroking.
    The minutes of the Federal Bank's monetary policy meeting
are expected later in the day.

 (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)
 ((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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