Australia: Banking stocks drag Australian shares lower; OZ Minerals surges

AUSTRALIAN shares slipped on Monday (Aug 8), pulled down by banking stocks, although a surge in OZ Minerals after the miner rejected a US$5.7 billion unsolicited takeover proposal from BHP Group limited losses in the benchmark index.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.3 per cent at 6,997.70 points, as of 12.34 am GMT. The benchmark ended 0.6 per cent higher on Friday.

In other key markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.4 per cent at 28,169.51 and S&P 500 E-minis futures edged 0.2 per cent lower.

Lifting investor anxiety over aggressive rate hikes, data from the US July employment report on Friday blasted past expectations, raising the odds of continued policy tightening from the Federal Reserve.

Back home, financials were among the top losers on the Australian bourse, shedding 0.2 per cent. Three of the "Big Four" banks dropped between 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent.

Shares of Suncorp Group fell 3.3 per cent, following a 37 per cent drop in the insurer's full-year cash earnings.

Technology stocks tracked their Wall Street peers lower and lost 0.4 per cent. Investment services provider Computershare and software maker Xero were down 0.9 per cent each. On the upside, OZ Minerals soared 34.5 per cent, and was on track to record its best day since April 2001, after it said BHP Group's takeover offer was "highly opportunistic", but significantly undervalued the nickel and copper miner.

Demand is growing for metals such as nickel and copper, key components in electric vehicle batteries and components.

Miners climbed 1.2 per cent and were set to mark their highest level in more than a month on strong iron ore prices.

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Australia: Shares gain for third straight week on miners, gold boost

Shares of heavyweights BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals rose between 0.5 per cent and 1.9 per cent.

Energy stocks advanced 0.7 per cent after oil prices settled higher on Friday, with Woodside Energy and Santos rising 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2 per cent to 11,702.73 points. REUTERS