Miners drag Australian shares down ahead of U.S. inflation data

Tyro Payments

12/12/2022 06:30

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      Gold stocks top pct loser on benchmark
    

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      Tyro Payments falls 19.5% after rejecting fresh buyout
offer
    

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      BHP Group and Rio Tinto the top market value losers on ASX
200
    

  
 (Updates to close)
    By Echha Jain
       Dec 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed nearly half
a percent lower on Monday, dragged by heavyweight mining stocks,
as cautious investors eyed U.S. inflation data to get clues on
the Federal Reserve's policy stance at its meeting later this
week.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  ended 0.5% lower at 7,180.80.
The benchmark ended 0.5% higher on Friday. 
    The U.S. inflation data is due on Tuesday, and any signs of
sticky inflation could alter the Fed's view on dialling back of
its aggressive policy tightening.  .N 
    Analysts widely expect a 50 basis point hike on Thursday,
down from a string of exceptionally outsized 75 basis point
hikes over the past four meetings.
    Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at
Marcustoday Financial Newsletter, said the market hopes to get a
bit of a pause from the Fed over the Christmas break.
    Miners  .AXMM  fell 1.7%, with index heavyweights Rio Tinto
 RIO.AX , Fortescue Metals Group  FMG.AX  and BHP Group  BHP.AX 
losing between 0.7% and 1.5%.
    Gold stocks  .AXGD  fell 3.2%, making them the top
percentage losers on the benchmark, as gold prices inched lower.
 GOL/ 
    Newcrest Mining  NCM.AX  and Northern Star Resources
 NST.AX  fell 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively.
    Financials  .AXFJ  advanced 0.2%, pushed by a 0.4% jump in
Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX .
    Tyro Payments  TYR.AX  slumped 19.5% after rejecting a fresh
A$875 million ($592.64 million) proposal from Potentia Capital
and ceasing talks with Westpac  WBC.AX .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3310CP
    Local energy stocks  .AXEJ  jumped 1.2% as oil prices rose
after a key Canada-United States crude pipeline stayed shut and
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut oil
production.  O/R 
    Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on
Friday said the country will cap coal and gas prices for a year
to cut utility bills for households and businesses hit by
soaring prices.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N32Z07M
    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  fell 0.8%
to finish the session at 11,506.45. 
($1 = 1.4765 Australian dollars)
 (Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((Echha.jain@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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