Australia shares end lower as Omicron spreads, financials slide

Vista International

11/01/2022 05:57

(Updates to close)
    By Navya Mittal
    Jan 11 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed nearly 1% lower
on Tuesday, led by financials, as an Omicron-led surge in
COVID-19 infections in the country hovered near record levels,
sending major retailers lower.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  ended 0.77% lower at 7390.1,
extending losses for the second consecutive session. The
benchmark fell 0.08% on Monday.
    Australia reported 86,000 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with
two more states due to report later in the day, straining
hospitals already stretched thin and hitting company supply
chains.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2TR056
    Financial stocks  .AXFJ  slid as much as 1.7%, with some
investors factoring in the possibility of U.S. interest rate
hikes at quicker pace. Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX 
led losses among the Big Four banks with a 1.8% drop.
    "We are probably looking at faster and quicker interest rate
hikes coming out of the U.S. markets, which will filter to the
Australian markets in 2022 and 2023," said Dale Raynes,
associate director at CPS Capital.
    Australia's two-biggest supermarket chains, Woolworths
 WOW.AX  and Coles  COL.AX , fell more than 2% each, while
Wesfarmers  WES.AX  dropped 1.2%.
    Retail sales data for November surged past estimates for a
second month, but a surge in COVID-19 infections since then
threaten to point to weaker showings in December.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2TR01G
    Gold miners  .AXGD  added 1.24%, leading to the index's
sharpest gain since December, on the back of a rise in the price
of the metal, considered a hedge against rising interest rates.
    Resolute Mining  RSG.AX  rose 2.94% and Evolution Mining
 EVN.AX  climbed 2.93%.
    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  fell 0.48%
to 12831.73, hurt by a 3.54% fall in movie software maker Vista
Group  VGL.NZ .

 (Reporting by Navya Mittal; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
 ((navya.mittal@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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