Rio Tinto shares fall on merger failure reports; banks weigh down on Australia's shares

The Australian share market fell Friday due to the fall in banking stocks, and Rio Tinto's decline on news of failed merger talks with Glencore.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended the week 0.2% lower, at 8,310.4. The benchmark closed the week with a 0.2% gain.

After reports that failed merger talks had taken place between the No. The world's No. 2 miner, Glencore, is one of the largest miners in coal and base metals.

The financial sector led the declines in Friday's market, with a 1% drop to record their worst week since four. The "big four" banks dropped between 1.2% and 1.8%.

Tim Waterer at KCM Trade said that the drop was probably due to the sector booking profits after recent gains.

The index rose by 2.6% on Friday, but finished the week with a 0.6% decline.

Iron ore prices rose after China's GDP numbers were better than expected, resulting in a 0.5% gain for the miners.

The index had its best week in the Index since November 18.

China, one of Australia's main trading partners, announced that its GDP for the fourth quarter grew by 5.4% on an annual basis, exceeding market expectations.

Gold stocks increased 0.3% due to higher bullion price.

The index posted weekly gains of 5 percent, the highest since late November.

Insignia Financial, a money manager based in Australia, surged 6.5% to its highest level since October 2021 after receiving a revised bid from U.S. CC Capital Partners for A$3,07 billion ($1.91billion).

Lynas Rare Earths - the largest rare earths miner outside China - fell by as much as 6,6% and hit its lowest level since January 2, after it missed its quarterly sales estimates. The company also gave a grim outlook for the next quarter, due to weak demand in China.

The stock closed the day 0.9% lower.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX50 index rose by nearly 1%, finishing the session at 13,130.43. The index rose 1.8% in a week. Adwitiya Shrivastava, Bengaluru. Edited by Sonia Cheema.

(source: Reuters)