*
Australia March quarter CPI rose 1.4%
*
Miners drag, gold stocks lift ASX 200
*
NZ's Synlait Milk hits record low on weak demand
(Updates to close)
By Poonam Behura
April 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed marginally
lower on Wednesday, with losses in mining stocks outweighing
gains in gold and energy explorers as the country's soft March
quarter inflation data failed to improve risk appetite.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.1% to close at 7,316.3. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed inflation eased from the 33-year highs in the first quarter as the cost of living saw the smallest rise in more than a year.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.4% in the quarter, just above market estimates of 1.3% but the smallest increase since late 2021. The shares pared some losses immediately after the data showed smaller price increases but made their way into negative territory by closing time.
"Although inflation is moving in the right direction, expectations for further rate hikes still remain, given a stubborn inflationary scenario globally", Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut said.
Soft inflation supports the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping the cash rate at 3.6% in May, but the strong services inflation indicates the need for further tightening in the coming months, analysts at ANZ Research wrote in a report.
Miners fell 0.7% to hit a 4-week low. Sector heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP slid 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
Gold stocks , on the other hand, added 1.6%. Alkane Resources , top gainer on the sub-index, climbed 4.7%. Energy stocks advanced 0.9%, underpinned by an uptick in oil prices.
In other news, diversified miner Mineral Resources flagged appetite for a larger stake in lithium junior Essential Metals , after it logged a more than 40% jump in expected production costs at a lithium project in Western Australia. Shares of Mineral Resources tumbled 9.7% to top losses on the ASX200.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.8% to finish the session at 11,934.98.
Dairy producer Synlait Milk hit a record low on
slashing its profit outlook for a second time.
(Reporting by Poonam Behura; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
U.S. earnings diary Wall Street Week Ahead Global Economy Week Ahead ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets ))
