Australia: Shares rise on commodities boost, RBA minutes hint at June hike

AUSTRALIAN shares rose for a third straight session on Tuesday (May 17), helped by gains in mining and energy stocks on the back of strong commodity prices, while minutes of the central bank’s last meeting hinted at another possible rate hike in June.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 0.3 per cent at 7,112.5, adding 2.5 per cent in the past 3 sessions.

Miners climbed 1.4 per cent, benefiting from a surge in iron ore prices as hopes of an improvement in demand rose on optimism that Covid-19 lockdowns in China would ease further.

Sector leaders BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals climbed between 0.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent.

Demand optimism also boosted global oil prices, helping local energy stocks rise 2.1 per cent. Woodside Petroleum and Santos gained 2 per cent each.

At its May meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) considered hiking interest rates by 40 basis points but decided to move by 25 basis points to 0.35 per cent in an attempt to mark a return to “normal operating procedures”.

“There are no major surprises (in today’s meeting minutes) as markets are already expecting a number of rate hikes in 2022,” said Steven Daghlian, a market analyst at CommSec.

Over the next few days, investors will be keenly looking out for data on wages and employment, which are likely to have an impact on the size of future rate hikes.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said the RBA left its door wide open to move in larger increments at futures meetings if the data warranted such.

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Australia: Shares rise on miners, energy boost; Brambles sinks

Meanwhile, Brambles topped losses on the bourse, shedding 7.6 per cent after private equity firm CVC Capital Partners ended talks of a takeover.

Technology stocks tracked their Wall Street peers lower and were down 0.8 per cent. ASX-listed shares of Block skidded 3.3 per cent, while accounting software maker Xero dropped 1.6 per cent.

Australian shares of Dublin-based James Hardie Industries slipped 3.5 per cent after reporting annual profit towards the lower end of its forecast range.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index eased 0.2 per cent to 11,157.66. REUTERS