Australia: Shares rise on tech boost; Westpac drops on profit miss

[BENGALURU] Australian shares climbed on Monday, kicking off the new month on a positive note, with domestic technology stocks catching the tailwind from a bounce on Wall Street, while Westpac dropped 5.3 per cent after the lender missed annual profit estimates.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.4 per cent at 7,351.2, as of 0007 GMT. The benchmark closed 1.4 per cent lower on Friday.

Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures rose 0.2 per cent.

Westpac Banking Corp said it would return A$5.7 billion (S$5.8 billion) to shareholders in dividends and a buyback, but profit at the No. 3 lender were below consensus Refinitiv forecast of A$5.5 billion despite more than doubling to A$5.35 billion.

Westpac, the best performing stock among the "Big Four" banks this year, dropped 5.3 per cent and marked its worst intraday session since June 11, 2020.

The broader financials sub-index fell more than 1 per cent.

Major indexes on Wall Street gained on Friday, as Microsoft Corp closed at a record high to offset losses in Amazon and Apple shares.

Australian technology stocks gained as much as 1.5 per cent, with software firm Altium rising 3.4 per cent.

Healthcare stocks also rose, benefiting from a 1.2 per cent rise in sector heavyweight CSL.

Meanwhile, AusNet Services said it agreed to a binding A$10.2 billion (S$10.3 billion) takeover offer by Brookfield Asset Management Inc, but added that rival bidder APA Group was free to make a better counter-offer.

Shares of the energy infrastructure firm jumped as much as 5.3 per cent to notch their highest in more than a month. AusNet was also among the top gainers in the benchmark index.

Miners, however, were set to record their fourth straight session of losses, as weaker iron ore prices pulled heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Group down 0.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.3 per cent at 13,061.3, driven lower by financial and industrial stocks.

REUTERS