Australian shares fell more than 1% on Friday due to strengthening bets of an interest rate hike in the central bank’s next policy meeting, after the country added more than twice as many jobs as analysts expected in June.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.2% to 7,940.3, as of 0024 GMT.
The index ended 0.3% lower on Thursday. Australian jobs grew much higher than market expectations in June, data showed on Thursday, causing investors to slightly raise their bets for a rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia in August.
The top loser on the benchmark was Lifestyle Communities, down 15.3%, after the real estate rental company withdrew all forward-looking outlook.
Gold miner Evolution Mining fell 5.3%. Alumina and Life360 dropped 3.5% and 3%, respectively. The Aussie dollar was 0.07% stronger against the US dollar to A$0.67.
Technology stocks fell 0.26%, led by Megaport , which opened down 1.7%.
Xero fell 1.5%. Financial stocks fell 1.1%, with heavyweights ANZ Group and National Australia Bank opening 1.3% and 1.1% lower, respectively.
ASX 300 metals and mining index fell 2.1%, with Sandfire Resources and Evolution Mining down 5.5% and 4.8%, respectively.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.6% to 12,255.7.
Australian shares struggle for direction ahead of jobs data
Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.45% at 39946.46. The US S&P 500 index closed down 1.39% on Thursday, while Nasdaq lost 0.70%. S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 5.25 points.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 4.1943%, compared with its US close of 4.188%. Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.29%.
The S&P 500 lost 0.78% while Nasdaq slipped 0.70%.
Brent crude futures fell 0.58% to $84.62 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.72% to $82.22 per barrel.
Gold fell 0.27% to $2,439.00, while Chinese iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were flat.
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