Australia shares end flat; Perpetual top loser on benchmark

Perpetual

08/05/2024 07:29

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      ASX 200 benchmark extends five-day winning streak
    

        * 
      Financials log five days of consecutive wins
    

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      Perpetual top loser on ASX 200
    

  
    By Sneha  Kumar
       May 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended unchanged on
Wednesday as local stocks pared gains after adding 1.4% on
Tuesday as the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold and
signalled inflation was still high, while fund manager Perpetual
plunged 7% after private equity firm KKR said it would buy two
of its units.
    The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index  .AXJO  closed 0.1% higher
at 7,804.5 points, extending winning streak to five days. The
benchmark rose 1.4% on Tuesday. 
        "There is some profit taking happening on the market
following Tuesday's solid gains (including in financials)," Tim
Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade said. 
    The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hold cash rate
at the "right level" of 4.35% boosted investor sentiments but
concerns remained on the timeline for inflation to reach the
target of 2%-3%. 
    After the upside CPI surprise in first quarter, a future
rate hike can't be ruled out given the non-linear nature of
inflation, Waterer added. 
    Financial services firm Perpetual  PPT.AX  said that buyout
giant KKR & Co  KKR.N  would acquire its wealth management and
corporate trust businesses for A$2.18 billion ($1.43 billion).
The Australian financial services firm's shares hit a five-month
low on Wednesday.
    On a five-day winning streak, rate-sensitive financials
 .AXFJ  inched 0.2% higher with the country's top lender
Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX  gaining 0.3%.    
    Meanwhile, fellow rate-dependent real estate stocks  .AXRE 
extended gains to a fifth session to end 0.5% higher at
one-month high. 
    Mirvac Group  MGR.AX  gained 0.5% while Dexus  DXS.AX 
climbed 0.7%.
    Behemoth miners  .AXMM  retreated 0.2%, snapping a four-day
winning streak as iron ore futures slipped on high inventories
at Chinese ports.  IRONORE/ 
    Giants BHP Group  BHP.AX , Rio Tinto  RIO.AX  and Fortescue
 FMG.AX  all ended lower in the session. 
    Snapping a three-day winning streak, energy stocks  .AXEJ 
edged lower while gold stocks  .AXGD  added 0.1%.      
    Losing for the third straight day, New Zealand's benchmark
S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  fell 0.2% to 11,782.89 points.
    
    ($1 = 1.5216 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee)
 ((sneha.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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