Australia: CSL, energy stocks drag shares lower; tech rally limits losses

[BENGALURU] Australian shares slipped on Thursday (Dec 16), hit by health firm CSL and energy stocks, though gains in tech stocks tracking their US peers helped limit losses.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell to 0.4 per cent to close at 7,295.7, after losing up to 0.7 per cent earlier to hit lowest since Dec 7. It extended losses into a third straight session.

Despite a blow-out monthly jobs report and the Reserve Bank of Australia pushing back rate hike expectations, CSL's 8.8 per cent drop was enough to drag on the benchmark index.

CSL, one of Australia's largest stocks by market value, plunged on resuming trade after 2 days on announcing a discounted US$5 billion placement to fund the US$11.7 billion acquisition of Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma.

The stock single-handedly dragged the healthcare subindex lower by 5.1 per cent, marking its sharpest single-day fall since March 2020.

Energy stocks fell 1.2 per cent, slipping for the third session. Beach Energy lost the most, down about 2 per cent.

In contrast, Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher after the US Federal Reserve said it would end bond-buying stimulus in March, likely setting up three interest rate increases next year to tackle heated inflation.

Tech index was a bright spot, as it rallied 2.1 per cent in tandem with its US peers, with the sector darling Afterpay settling 1.7 per cent higher.

Among individual stocks, diversified miner IGO jumped 2.9 per cent, hitting a record high after announcing the acquisition of nickel producer Western Areas for at A$1.1 billion (S$1.1 billion), which jumped 6.2 per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed down 0.7 per cent at 12,777.5 in its third session of losses. Data showed that the country's gross domestic product shrank 3.7 per cent in the third quarter from the previous quarter.

REUTERS