Australia: Gold, tech stocks lift shares higher

AUSTRALIAN shares ended higher on Tuesday(Aug 9) led by gold and technology stocks, but National Australia Bank dragged down financials on flagging higher costs, while investors awaiting US inflation data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s policy stance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.13 per cent higher at 7,029.80, The benchmark closed nearly flat on Monday.

Markets await consumer price data on Wednesday to gauge whether the Fed may shift to dovish stance and provide a better footing for the economy to grow.

Earlier in the day, Australia reported a fall in consumer sentiment for the ninth straight month in August as another hike in interest rates combined with the surging cost of living to sour the national mood.

Local technology stocks led gains, jumping 1.70 per cent helped by a 10.0 per cent jump in cloud service provider Megaport, as annual loss narrowed for the company.

Gold stocks advanced 0.64 per cent on strong overnight bullion prices, with country’s largest gold miner Newcrest Mining gaining 0.9 per cent.

Financials were among the top losers, falling 0.8 per cent with the ‘Big Four’ banks trading in the negative territory.

National Australia Bank, country’s biggest lender, dropped nearly 3 per cent after it flagged higher expenses for the second time in four months.

“I’m worried towards the end of the year, with the mortgage rates going up so much, people will probably be in a situation where they’ll be forced to sell,” said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

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He explain higher mortgage rate will “be a major problem for Australian banks”, as most of bank’s exposure is in property sector which facing a downturn led by aggressive rate hikes.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.43 per cent higher at 11753.48. REUTERS