Australian shares edge lower ahead of RBA meeting, key earnings

Published on 08/08/2025 at 03:06 am EDT
By John Biju

• RBA meeting on August 12
• ASX 200 posts best week since mid-July
• Financial stocks fall over 1%

(Updates to close)
(Reuters) - Australian shares edged lower on Friday, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a key interest rate decision and earnings of some of the biggest companies in the country next week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.3% lower at 8,807.10 points. The benchmark posted its best week since mid-July.
Investors took a breather and booked profits after shares hit record highs earlier this week, and turned their attention to the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision on August 12.
Markets are expecting a quarter-point rate cut from the central bank due to falling inflation and slowing domestic demand.
The cut is priced in and the market would not react much, but the trend depends on the guidance hinted at the conference, said Junvum Kim, Asia Pacific senior sales trader at Saxo Markets.
Earnings from companies, including major banks such as CBA , Westpac and ANZ, are due next week.
"One of the risks is that the earnings from the banks will be a bit softer," said Greg Smith, head of retail at Devon Funds Management.
"So that is certainly a risk to the Australian market given how much of an influence they (banks) are over the index."
Financial stocks, which have driven much of the gains in the benchmark this year, declined 1.1% on Friday. However, the sub-index posted a second consecutive weekly gain.
CBA and National Australia Bank slipped 0.9% each while Westpac declined 1%.
Healthcare stocks declined 1.5%, with pharmaceutical company CSL retreating 1.8%.
Bucking the trend, mining stocks jumped 1.5%, taking cues from higher copper prices. The sub-index posted its best week since late September 2024.
Shares of BHP and Rio Tinto rose 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
Gold stocks rose 2.2% after gold futures hit a record high. The sub-index posted its best week since early November 2022.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3% to 12,844.63.
 (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala) 

Sumber : Reuters