Australian shares pared early gains on Wednesday after banks took a breather, but natural resources held their ground. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended flat at 5,242.3 points, not far from a recent one-month low of 5,162.7. In contrast, New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index set a fresh record peak as soft jobs data and falling global dairy prices reinforced speculation for a December interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
The index ended the session 0.8 percent higher or 49.24 points at 6,071.21. The "Big Four" banks were all in positive territory led by a 1.1 percent rise in Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp. The sector is still in favour a day after Australia's central bank disclosed its explicit easing bias. Biggest gainer CSR jumped as much as 14.4 percent after reporting a substantial lift in half-year net profit. The construction material supplier also declared a 35 percent increase in its interim dividend.
Retail sales data showing an expected 0.4 percent rise in September and an increase of 0.6 percent in the third quarter was met with little reaction. New Zealand's shares rallied on hopes of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as early as December after disappointing third-quarter jobs data and another decline in global dairy prices. The dairy sector generates more than 7 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product.
Communications service provider Spark New Zealand was the among the top losers on the index, down about 2 percent, after Morningstar downgraded the stock to "reduce" from "hold." Air New Zealand fell 1.4 percent on a rally in oil prices, which tends to push up jet fuel costs.