Australia shares fell on Monday as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group slumped 5% to touch a near one-year low after flagging a hit to margins and also dragged down stocks of other heavyweight lenders.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.4% at 7,092.5, as of 1137 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.6% higher on Friday.
Banks dropped 1.3% in their worst intraday session since Jan. 27, with ANZ slumping after the lender joined Westpac in flagging a hit to margins due to stiff competition in mortgage lending and the central bank's ultra-loose policy settings.
The other lenders among the "Big Four" fell between 0.9% and 1.6%.
Australia shares set for biggest weekly gain since late-December
Casino operator Star Entertainment shed 0.9% after it forecast a first-half loss and said it would need to remediate employees it had underpaid over six years.
Healthcare stocks retreated 1.1%, led by biotech major CSL Ltd sliding 1.2%. Sonic Healthcare and Cochlear dropped about 0.8% each.
By contrast, Graincorp soared 12.9% after the agribusiness firm forecast an at least 70% growth in full-year profit, driven by global demand for Australian grain and oilseeds.
James Hardie, the world's largest fibre cement maker, jumped 5% after hiking its annual profit outlook for the fourth time, and setting an even higher forecast for the next year.
Energy stocks gained 1% as crude oil prices hit seven-year highs late on Friday on worries about supply disruptions fuelled by frigid US weather and ongoing political turmoil among major world producers.
Woodside Petroleum added 1.3% on Monday, while Santos and Ampol were up 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively.
Technology stocks also remained buoyant and climbed 1.2%, tracking a strong overnight finish on the Nasdaq.
Australia-listed shares of Block Inc rose 3.6%, while local tech names Xero and WiseTech Global added 1.5% and 2.1%, respectively.
Markets in New Zealand were closed for a holiday.
Comments
Comments are closed.