Australia: Shares dip as investors cautious ahead of RBA meeting

[BENGALURU] Australian shares dipped on Tuesday, with banks and miners weighing the index down, as investors cautiously await clues on whether the country's central bank will opt for a sooner-than-expected rate hike in its policy meeting due later in the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.2 per cent at 7,355.1, as of 0009 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.6 per cent higher on Monday.

Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.02 per cent

Investors shifted focus to the Reserve Bank of Australia's crucial monthly meeting, after it skipped a chance to buy its 2024 yield target bond last week and fuelled worries of sooner-than-expected rate hikes.

Westpac Baking Corp extended losses as brokerage Jefferies lowered its price target, a day after the country's No. 3 lender revealed big cuts in margins and high expenses in its annual earnings.

The broader financials sub-index fell 0.7 per cent.

Shares of Insurance Australia Group dropped as much as 5.8 per cent to hit an eight-month low, after the insurer said it now expects higher net natural perils claim costs for fiscal 2022, due to increased storm and hail activity in October.

Miners fell 0.5 per cent on the back of weaker commodity prices, with global miner BHP Group falling 0.4 per cent.

Industrial real estate firm Goodman Group raised its fiscal 2022 earnings outlook, sending shares up 5.6 per cent, their biggest intraday jump since April 2020.

Goodman added that increasing customer demand, combined with supply restrictions is creating a space shortage, which bodes well for the company's cash flow growth.

Wall Street's main indexes notched record closing highs overnight as Tesla shares surged and the energy sector gained while investors looked ahead to a major Federal Reserve meeting later in the week.

Domestic technology stocks rose 0.4 per cent, while firmer bullion prices pushed gold stocks higher.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was steady at 13,042.99 points.

REUTERS