Australia: Shares rise on mining, energy boost

AUSTRALIAN shares edged up on Tuesday, boosted by mining and energy stocks, as investors took a breather after a sharp selloff spurred by expectations of higher interest rates by the US central bank raised fears of an economic slowdown.

The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.5 per cent by 0016 GMT.

The benchmark hit a three-month low on Monday and has lost about 3.4 per cent since the US Federal Reserve last week hiked interest rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time.

Investors back home took a breather after a steep sell-off, even as markets globally continued to show weakness after US Fed officials sloughed off rising volatility in global markets, and said their priority remained controlling domestic inflation.

Miners led the gains, jumping 1.8 per cent with iron ore behemoths BHP and Rio Tinto up over 1 per cent each.

Energy stocks rose 1.7 per cent, with oil and gas major Woodside Energy gaining 1.2 per cent.

Santos rose 1.4 per cent after the gas explorer said it received a US$1.4 billion binding offer from Papua New Guinea’s state-owned Kumul Petroleum for a 5 per cent stake in the PNG liquefied natural gas project.

Financials and tech index were marginally down 0.02 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively. Gold Stocks jumped 0.6 per cent, with the country’s largest gold miner Newcrest Mining advancing 1 per cent.

Separately, Star Entertainment gained 0.8 per cent after it had developed a comprehensive remediation plan, after an inquiry found the casino operator unfit to hold a casino licence in Sydney.

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Australia: Shares hit three-month low on slowdown worries

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 0.5 per cent to 11,376.33.

The country’s finance minister Grant Robertson said inflation is likely to moderate but it won’t be a quick drop back to the levels that people are used to seeing. REUTERS