Australia: Shares edge higher in choppy trade ahead of RBA outcome

[CHENNAI] Australia shares edged higher in choppy trade on Tuesday (Feb 1), after technology stocks tracked a robust overnight Nasdaq session, even as investors cautiously awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) monetary policy outcome expected later in the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.2 per cent, or 17.4 points, at 6,994, as of 1230 GMT, after dipping 0.1 per cent earlier in the session. The benchmark closed 0.2 per cent lower on Monday.

A Reuters poll showed that the Australian central bank will end its bond-buying programme, but is expected to wait until November before it responds to inflationary pressures ahead of its first rate hike.

The country's underlying inflation, which surged at its fastest annual pace since 2014 in the December quarter, suggests the recent rise in price pressures was not as benign and transitory as policymakers thought it would be.

Information technology stocks advanced for a third straight day to gain up to 3.8 per cent and scale a one-week high, tracking their US peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Australian software services provider Xero Ltd and investor services provider Computershare Ltd climbed 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

Shares in the financial sector also gained, with Westpac Banking Corp and Macquarie Group advancing 0.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

An uptick in bullion prices lifted gold stocks, which surged about 2 per cent to their best intraday session since Jan 20, with Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources gaining above 1 per cent each.

Miners extended losses to drop more than 2 per cent, with heavyweights Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Group Ltd slipping more than 2 per cent each.

Shares of Boral surged as much as 6.5 per cent, after the building materials maker said it would return A$3 billion (S$2.9 billion) to shareholders, from proceeds from the sales of its North America units.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose about 1 per cent, or 121.52 points, to 12,010.92. REUTERS