SYDNEY: Australian shares snapped a three-day winning streak on Friday, starting the last month of the year on a negative note, as technology firms and banks weighed, while investors assessed their monetary policy easing bets after a benign US inflation print.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.17% to 7,075.40 points after closing 0.7% higher on Thursday. The benchmark gained 4.5% last month, its best month since January.

Overnight, US inflation data showed signs of cooling demand in the world’s largest economy, which further strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hiking campaign was over, boosting the possibility of rate cuts early next year.

“Growth and inflation in the US slow enough to enable the Fed to ease would help set the conditions for the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) to also cut, particularly given the synchronous nature of the current global economic cycle,” analysts at ANZ said in a note.

On the domestic front, banking stocks shed 0.1%, with Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia both dropping about 0.5%.

Information technology stocks declined nearly 1.1%, after having their best day in over nearly three weeks on Thursday. Sector majors Xero and Wisetech Global slumped 1.9% and 1%, respectively.