Australia: Shares rebound as financials gain, James Hardie sinks

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rebounded on Friday (Jan 7) from a tech-led sell-off in the previous session, as banking gains led the climb, while fibre cement maker James Hardie's shares dropped after it ousted chief executive Jack Truong for breaching code of conduct.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 1.5 per cent at 7,468.3. The benchmark had settled 2.7 per cent lower on Thursday, its worst session in 16 months.

James Hardie on Friday fired Truong and said his work-related interactions over the last several months with a group of 30 to 50 employees "extensively and materially breached" the company's code of conduct.

Shares of the world's largest fibre cement maker dropped as much as 10.8 per cent, and were set for their worst session since March 2020.

Heavyweight financials jumped as much as 2.2 per cent to notch their biggest intraday jump since October last year, propelled by the "Big Four" banks.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group added between 1.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

Technology stocks, which fell 6.4 per cent on Thursday in its worst session since March 2020, rose 1.3 per cent.

"Buy now, pay later" bellwether Afterpay rose as much as 2.9 per cent in its biggest intraday jump since Dec 22, 2021, while Tyro Payments jumped 1.9 per cent.

Energy stocks added as much as 2.2 per cent, as oil prices gained overnight on escalating unrest in Opec+ oil producer Kazakhstan and supply outages in Libya.

Major oil and gas explorers Santos and Woodside Petroleum gained 1.8 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries fell 12.4 per cent, while Woolworths Group and Wesfarmers rose 0.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries said Wesfarmers would buy it for A$763.6 million (S$745.3 million) after Woolworths pulled out of a race to acquire the country's top drugstore chain.

Strong iron ore prices lifted miners by 1.2 per cent, while healthcare stocks rose 1.3 per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was flat at 12,988.51 points.

REUTERS