Australia: Shares flat as banks negate gains in mining, tech stocks

[BENGALURU] Australian shares swung between positive and negative territory on Wednesday (Dec 22), as losses in banks and gold explorers countered gains made by miners and technology stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was flat at 7,355.2 by 11.44pm GMT, after notching its best session in 2 weeks on Tuesday (Dec 21).

The Australian central bank is optimistic that Omicron will not derail the country's economic recovery, though the rapidly spreading coronavirus variant has rattled global equity markets in recent weeks.

Technology stocks tracked Wall Street higher, rising as much as 1.8 per cent. Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay jumped 6.6 per cent in its best intraday session since Aug 3.

Miners advanced 0.4 per cent, underpinned by strong iron ore prices.

BHP Group said it would not match a takeover offer by billionaire Andrew Forrest's Wyloo Metals for Noront Resources, essentially bowing out from a months-long tussle for the Canadian nickel miner.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto said it would buy the Rincon lithium project in Argentina for US$825 million to build its battery materials business. Shares of the miner were down 0.8 per cent.

Healthcare stocks climbed, led by a 1.5 per cent jump in biotechnology giant CSL. Energy stocks rose 0.9 per cent on the back of firmer oil prices, with Whitehaven Coal and Paladin Energy adding 3.3 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.

Heavyweight financials fell as much as 0.4 per cent, with 3 of the so-called "Big Four" banks trading in negative territory.

Weakness in gold prices weighed on the ASX-listed explorers of the metal, with Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources both shedding more than 1 per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.5 per cent at 12,798.19.

On Tuesday (Dec 21), the country postponed its phased border re-opening plans until the end of February over concerns about the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant.

REUTERS