Australian shares flat: Rio Tinto drags down miners after merger talks
Australian shares were flat on Friday. Gains in healthcare companies were offset by losses among miners. Rio Tinto fell on speculation about early merger talks with London listed smaller rival Glencore.
S&P/ASX 200 index fell marginally 0.1% at 8,322.2 points as of 2322 GMT. The benchmark index is on course to record its second consecutive weekly increase.
Rio Tinto shares dropped 1.21% after reports of short, unsuccessful merger discussions with Glencore in late 2017. This was despite speculations by Bloomberg News that early-stage talks were ongoing.
Local employment also surprised the markets in December, as it exceeded expectations. The traders now expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut rates at its first meeting, on February 18.
Analysts expect the fourth-quarter data to be released later this month. Core inflation is expected to increase by 0.6% or less. This could be the lowest rise since mid-2021.
Banks, who have historically benefited from interest rates that are higher for longer, fell by 0.2%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the top lender in Australia, dropped by 0.3%.
BHP, the sector's largest company, fell 0.3%. The subindex is on track to record its fourth consecutive week of gains.
CSL, a biotech company, rose 0.2% as the Australian dollar continues to be under pressure.
Energy stocks fell 0.2% due to the decline in oil prices. The leaders, Woodside Energy and Santos, were little changed.
Separately Lynas Rare Earths dropped 4.8%, after the largest rare earths producer outside China missed its consensus sales estimates for the quarter.
Insignia Financial's share price rose by 5.2%, the highest in three years. This was due to CC Capital increasing their offer for the company, which is higher than Bain Capital.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index was marginally higher by 0.2%, at 13,020 point. This is their best week since December 23. The local inflation data for the last quarter will be released on January 22. Reporting by Nikita Marie Jino from Bengaluru, editing by Alan Barona
(source: Reuters)
