Australia: Shares fall from 5-month high as tech losses weigh
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[BENGALURU] Australian shares fell on Wednesday, after hitting a near five-month high during the session, as weakness in technology stocks overshadowed gains from financial and mining sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose as much as 0.4 per cent, was down 0.1 at 7580.6 by 0007 GMT. The benchmark had settled 2 per cent higher on Tuesday, the strongest closing level since mid-August.
The technology sub-index tracked overnight losses on the Nasdaq and fell as much as 2.3 per cent, their biggest single-day loss since mid-December.
Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay dropped as much as 4.9 per cent to hit its lowest since October 2020. EML Payments and Altium were down 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
Financials rose as much as 0.9 per cent to hit their highest since Nov 17, driven by the so-called "Big Four" banks.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp added between 0.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent, while Macquarie Group rose as much as 2.5 per cent to hit a record high.
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Miners advanced as much as 0.9 per cent, scaling their highest since August last year, as iron ore prices rose on improved demand prospects in top steel producer China.
Rio Tinto and BHP Group added 0.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, while Sims jumped 3.3 per cent.
Healthcare stocks fell 1.2 per cent, with biotechnology giant CSL falling 0.8 per cent
Coal stocks extended gains, as China's thermal coal futures surged on concerns of supply disruptions after Indonesia, its biggest overseas supplier, banned exports.
Whitehaven Coal and Yancoal Australia rose 1.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Australia reported 47,799 new infections on Tueday, up nearly a third from Monday's number which was also a record.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index, which rose as much as 0.7 per cent to hit its highest since Oct 26, 2021, pared gains to trade 0.3 per cent higher.
Financials and healthcare stocks were the gainers on the bourse.
REUTERS
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