Australian shares fell on Friday, dragged by local miners on weaker underlying commodity prices, while investors reduced expectations of an interest rate cut this year from the country’s central bank after a stronger local jobs report.
The S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.5% to 8,316.6, as of 2341 GMT.
The benchmark climbed 0.9% to end at an all-time high on Thursday.
Local miners were the biggest drag on the benchmark, falling 1.2% for a third straight session after a lack of fresh stimulus from a key policy briefing in top consumer China brought down iron ore prices.
Mining heavyweights BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue were down between 0.3% and 1.4%.
Data on Thursday showed Australia’s labour market remained tight as net employment surged in September, pushing back hopes of a rate cut this year by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Australian shares close at record high, boosted by financials
Interest rate-sensitive financial stocks fell in early trade, before paring some losses to edge 0.2% higher, with the “Big Four” banks slipping between 0.1% and 0.4%.
Technology stocks, which are also sensitive towards rate changes, dropped 1.2%, with technology giant WiseTech Global falling around 2.7% to become the biggest loser on the sub-index.
Bucking the trend, gold stocks edged 0.5% higher, with investors rushing to seek relief in the safe-haven asset as geopolitical uncertainties stayed afoot.
Gold miner Northern Star Resources rose 0.5%.
Star Entertainment reversed course and was down 2.6% after jumping as much as 5% as they resumed trading, a day after New South Wales state gaming regulator said the embattled casino operator would be able to keep its Sydney casino open.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was flat.
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