Australian shares extended losses on Monday led by financial and mining stocks, while investors awaited more Chinese economic data due this week which will likely increase calls for serious stimulus measures from the world’s second-largest economy.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 7,318.2 by 0041 GMT, its biggest drop since Aug. 3. The benchmark ended 0.2% lower on Friday.
Investors await China’s monthly activity data this week amid concerns about the country’s economic growth as well as disappointment due to lack of significant fiscal and monetary support from Beijing.
Back home, the outgoing Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe on Friday said the central bank was in ‘calibration stage’ on monetary policy, adding that the worst is over for inflation. Banks slipped 0.5%, with the “big four” banks falling between 0.4% and 0.5%.
Shares of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank posted its sharpest drop in 22 weeks, as the lender’s full-year cash earnings of A$576.9 million ($373.83 million) missed a Visible Alpha consensus of A$593.8 million.
Miners also fell 0.5% to hit a five-week low. Heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Group lost 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. Technology stocks tracked last week’s losses on Wall Street and dipped 0.3%.
Lendlease Group fell 1.3% after the developer posted a wider annual loss, reflecting tough trading conditions, lower valuations for its properties and the impact of legislation in the UK. Shares of Beach Energy sank 5.2% after posting a 24% decline in annual underlying net profit after tax.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was flat at 11,833.66.
The country’s central bank is expected to keep overnight cash rate (OCR) steady at a more than 14-year high of 5.50% for a second straight meeting on Aug. 16, according to a Reuters poll.
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