News: ANZ Australia shares end slightly higher as tech, energy gains offset healthcare losses

	  Benchmark remains range-bound  

	  Investors await NFP data later in global day  

	  Australian competition regulator blocks ANZ-Suncorp deal  

(Updates to close)

Australian shares fluctuated between positive and negative territories to end marginally higher on Friday, as gains in tech and energy countered losses in healthcare, while investors stayed on the edge for further cues on global economic growth.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) ended 0.2% higher to 7,325.3 points. The benchmark fell 0.6% on Thursday.

Markets have remained range-bound, as investors globally are awaiting crucial non-farm payrolls data from the United States later in the global day to assess the health of the economy, even as they remain convinced of an economic downturn towards the end of the year.

Locally, the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed growth and inflation outlook for the year, adding that it could take "some more time" to assess how the economy and the risks to inflation and employment were evolving.

"The Monetary Policy Statement today has served as a reminder that we are not necessarily at the end of the hiking cycle," Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade said. "The RBA flagged the prospect of perhaps tightening again, which is not surprising."

In Sydney, the technology index .AXIJ rose the most in the benchmark, gaining around 1.3%, with accounting software provider Xero (XRO) advancing about 1.5%.

The healthcare index .AXHJ , however, fell around 1.2%, with sector major CSL Ltd (CSL) falling about 0.7%.

The subdued performance in the Australian market in the last few days point towards outflows, according to Mathan Somasundaram, CEO at Deep Data Analytics.

"The collapse in the AUD/USD pair in recent days shows the outflows are kicking in," he said. "We've had a fair amount of money coming into our market, but that's been going out gradually."

Shares of ANZ Group and Suncorp rose 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, after they said they would challenge the competition regulator's decision to block a A$4.9 billion ($3.22 billion) deal.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) finished about 0.1% higher to finish the session at 11,943.2 points.

($1 = 1.5223 Australian dollars)