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Banks and tech stocks lead gains
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All eyes on RBA meeting on Tuesday
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AXJO tracks Wall Street's bumper Friday
(Updates to close)
By Rishav Chatterjee
March 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended higher on
Monday, with banks and tech stocks leading the gains, while
investors remained watchful of the local central bank's rate
decision later in the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6% to end the session
at 7,328.6. The benchmark lost 0.3% last week.
Aussie banks led gains on the benchmark as the
sub-index advanced 1.2%. The so-called "Big Four" banks added
between 0.8% and 1.7%.
Investors await a key central bank decision on Tuesday
to gauge the future path of interest rate hikes in the country.
A Reuters poll estimates that the Reserve Bank of Australia will
lift its interest rate by another quarter point, followed by one
more hike in the upcoming quarter.
"I'm expecting a 25 bps hike tomorrow with still hawkish
commentary despite softening data. The RBA wants to keep the
language hawkish," said Matthew Haupt, lead portfolio manager at
Wilson Asset Management.
Technology stocks tracked Wall Street, rising 1.8%.
ASX shares of sector major Block Inc and Xero ended the day 5.5% and 3.6% higher, respectively.
Wall Street rallied on Friday with Dow's first weekly gain
since late January as U.S. Treasury yields eased and economic
data lifted investor sentiment. Commodity stocks capped the rally in Australia with miners ending the day 0.4% lower. Iron ore giants Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group traded in the red.
"Miners are selling off due to disappointment of China's NPC
meetings over the weekend as investors were hoping for more
explicit guidance on stimulus and fiscal spending," Wilson
Asset's Haupt said.
Energy stocks also weighed on the index with oil prices
opening the day lower. Sector heavyweights Woodside and
Santos ended the day 1.2% and 0.7% lower.
Among individual stocks, software solutions company
BrainChip was the top gainer on ASX 200 after launching
a new AI platform.
Lynas Rare Earths emerged as the top loser after
Tesla said its next generation EV would not use rare earth
metals.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4%
to finish session at 11,912.5 points.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya
Ann Thoppil)
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