Australia: Shares rise as banks, Qantas jump

AUSTRALIAN shares inched higher on Thursday, helped by gains in heavyweight financials, while Qantas soared after the airline forecast a return to profit in the first half of 2023 fiscal year for the first time since the pandemic began.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4 per cent to 6,671.6, as of 0016 GMT, with global investors looking for clues on the pace of future US interest rate hikes from inflation data due later in the day. The benchmark index closed 0.04 per cent higher on Wednesday.

Shares of Qantas Airways surged up to 13 per cent, on track for their best session since November 2020, after the company said it expected to swing to a first-half underlying profit of between A$1.2 billion and A$1.3 billion, up from a similar-sized loss the prior year.

Financials jumped 2.4 per cent to hit their highest in a month, with the country’s so-called “big four” banks rising between 2.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, medical insurance firm NIB Holdings was set for its worst session since August 2021, shedding 10.4 per cent after it completed a A$135 million placement at a discount.

Mining stocks fell 0.9 per cent after iron ore prices slumped for the third day in a row on Wednesday.

Mining giants BHP group and Rio Tinto declined 1.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Lithium stocks also weakened, with Pilbara Minerals and Lake Resources falling 6 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.

Healthcare and real estate stocks were both down nearly 1.3 per cent.

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Australia: Shares close flat as banks offset miners' drag

Major Wall Street indexes closed a choppy session slightly lower on Wednesday, after minutes from the last US Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers agreed they needed to maintain a more restrictive policy stance.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.3 per cent to 10,839.65 on Thursday. REUTERS