Australian shares struggled for direction on Tuesday, as losses in commodity and IT stocks countered gains in financials, while traders awaited local inflation data, due later in the week, to get clarity on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy stance.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was largely unchanged at 8,410.5, as of 2347 GMT.
The market was closed on Monday for a holiday.
Traders are anticipating the fourth-quarter consumer price index report, due on Wednesday, to solidify market expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut borrowing costs to 4.10% in its Feb. 17-18 meeting.
Those odds now stand at around 70%.
Australia’s closely watched underlying inflation measure slowed to 3.2% in November from 3.5% in the prior month, data showed earlier this month.
Back on the bourse, heavyweight miners slipped 0.2%.
Shares of Red Hawk Mining gained 46%, hitting a near four-year peak after bigger rival Fortescue said it would acquire the company in a A$254 million ($159.11 million) deal.
Energy stocks declined 1.3% after oil prices fell about 2% overnight.
Australian shares log third week of gains
The sub-index hit its lowest since Jan. 2 and was on track for a fourth consecutive session of losses.
Oil and gas giant Woodside Energy lost 0.9%, while smaller peer Santos shed 0.4%.
IT stocks lost 1.4%, in tandem with their US peers as a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model prompted a sell-off in US chipmakers.
Tech firm NEXTDC slumped 8% in what could be its worst trading day since Nov. 10, 2020.
Bucking the trend, financials gained 0.4%, hitting their highest since Dec. 3.
The “Big Four” banks rose between 0.5% and 0.7%.
Although lower interest rates are not beneficial for banks, they boost credit growth and borrowers’ mortgage paying capacity.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.6% to 12,925.37, hitting its lowest since Jan. 15.
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