MELBOURNE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.7
percent on Tuesday, propelled by rate-sensitive banking, retail
and property stocks as investors braced for an interest rate cut
later in the day, though resource stocks struggled.
By 0048 GMT, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 33.4
points at 5,151.7.
Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Labor Day long
weekend.
Australia's Reserve Bank (RBA) is expected to trim its main
cash rate by 25 basis points to 7 percent, its first easing in
seven years, to help boost a slowing economy.
"The main game is obviously the RBA. You would think it had
been factored in by now, but apparently not. They couldn't have
broadcast it much louder," said Nomura Equities strategist Eric
Betts.
He added there might be a risk the market cools off once it
gets confirmation of the move.
The RBA will announce its decision at 2:30 p.m. (0430 GMT).
It had raised official rates four times in the past year.
The top four banks, National Australia Bank Ltd,
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd, Westpac Banking
Groupand Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd were all trading more than 1 percent higher.
The battered A-REIT index of property trusts <.AXPJ> climbed
2 percent, while the index of discretionary stocks <.AXDJ>,
including retailers and media groups, rose 1.4 percent.
"With the oil price off, that's an added positive for those
guys," Betts said of the smaller retailers.
The top miners slid after metals prices fell, with BHP
Billiton Ltd/Plcoff 2.1 percent and Rio Tinto
Ltd/Plcdown 3.1 percent.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index <.NZ50> was up 16.8
points, or 0.5 percent, at 3,374.48 at 0047 GMT.
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