Australian shares fell 26 points, or 0.3%, to 8,813 around midday on Friday, erasing gains from the previous three sessions after a sharp overnight sell-off on Wall Street triggered by surging oil prices and weak results from two major US companies. Domestically, strong June employment data increased the likelihood of another rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia, on top of the three increases already delivered this year. Investor caution also intensified ahead of next week’s June and Q2 inflation releases, amid ongoing concerns about persistent price pressures.
Most sectors traded lower, led by technology, consumer durables, and non-energy minerals. Mining heavyweight BHP Group slipped 1.6%, while gold producers Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining dropped 3.3% and 2.9%, respectively. Despite the day’s weakness, the local market is still on course for its first weekly gain in three weeks, up about 0.2% so far, supported by signs of resilience in manufacturing and services activity in July, as indicated by the S&P Global flash PMIs.
