Australian shares fall as CBA slides after bleak near-term outlook

May 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Tuesday, dragged by financials after the country's largest lender warned of a near-term impact on profit margins due to high competition in the mortgage market. The S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.5% to 7,248.2 points by 0033 GMT. The benchmark added 0.8% on Monday. Financials retreated as much as 1.1%, losing for the first time in three sessions. Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped 1% after the lender hinted at potentially weak credit growth and weaker margins in the coming months.

Westpac Banking Corp , ANZ Group Holdings and National Australia Bank slid 0.5%-2%.

Market participants will eye United States' consumer prices data for April due on Wednesday — where core inflation is expected to have slowed moderately — for further clues on the Federal Reserve's rate decision. Energy stocks declined 1.1% after oil prices dipped overnight over uncertainty around Fed's future actions. Oil and gas majors Woodside Energy and Santos lost 1.4% and 1%, respectively. Gold sub-index fell 0.8% even as bullion prices regained some ground after a retreat in the previous session. Newcrest Mining and Ramelius Resources traded down 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively.

Separately, Australia is set to deliver its first budget surplus in 15 years giving the country room to dole out cost-of-living relief amid an inflation squeeze on households. Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.7% to 11,917.56 points. Tourism Holdings Ltd and Meridian Energy Ltd were the top losers on the bourse. (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)

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Australian shares fall as CBA slides after bleak near-term outlook

By Reuters

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