Australia shares declined on Tuesday, led by losses in heavyweight financials, as investors treaded cautiously ahead of a pivotal central bank meeting where interest rates are expected to be unchanged, with most other sectors in a sea of red.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell as much as 0.4% at 8136.1 points by 1138 GMT.
The benchmark closed 0.6% higher on Monday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is scheduled to meet later today and is widely expected to maintain interest rates at 4.35%, unchanged since a hike a year ago, according to a Reuters poll.
However, the meeting is crucial as investors will closely scrutinize any changes to the policy statement, especially regarding the need for policy to remain “sufficiently restrictive” and the RBA’s stance on not “ruling anything in or out” concerning interest rates.
Sticky core inflation data from Australia last week also reinforced expectations that the central bank, which lags its peers in starting its monetary easing cycle, will further delay its rate cuts.
Global investors are also wary of the US election outcome later in the day, with opinion polls suggesting Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the highly anticipated race to the White House.
Australia shares hit record high on Fed rate cut boost
If implemented, Trump’s tariffs — one of his main proposals — could trigger a global trade war, potentially harming the Antipodean economies that depend significantly on free trade.
Back home, interest-rate sensitive financial sub-index led declines, falling 0.6% with investors eyeing upcoming annual earnings reports this week.
All of the so-called “big four” banks fell between 0.5% and 1%.
Miners, energy stocks and gold sub-index , all followed suit to give up 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.6%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises was the biggest loser on the benchmark, with shares reaching their lowest level in nearly two months after its long-serving chief executive decided to step down.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely flat.
American Dollar Exchange Rate