Australia March quarter CPI rose 1.4% Miners drag, gold stocks...

	  Australia March quarter CPI rose 1.4%  

	  Miners drag, gold stocks lift ASX 200 

	  NZ's Synlait Milk hits record low on weak demand  

(Updates to close)

Australian shares closed marginally lower on Wednesday, with losses in mining stocks outweighing gains in gold and energy explorers as the country's soft March quarter inflation data failed to improve risk appetite.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) fell 0.1% to close at 7,316.3. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed inflation eased from the 33-year highs in the first quarter as the cost of living saw the smallest rise in more than a year.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.4% in the quarter, just above market estimates of 1.3% but the smallest increase since late 2021.

The shares pared some losses immediately after the data showed smaller price increases but made their way into negative territory by closing time.

"Although inflation is moving in the right direction, expectations for further rate hikes still remain, given a stubborn inflationary scenario globally", Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut said.

Soft inflation supports the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping the cash rate at 3.6% in May, but the strong services inflation indicates the need for further tightening in the coming months, analysts at ANZ Research wrote in a report.

Miners .AXMM fell 0.7% to hit a 4-week low. Sector heavyweights Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP (BHP) slid 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD , on the other hand, added 1.6%. Alkane Resources (ALK) , top gainer on the sub-index, climbed 4.7%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ advanced 0.9%, underpinned by an uptick in oil prices.

In other news, diversified miner Mineral Resources (MIN) flagged appetite for a larger stake in lithium junior Essential Metals (ESS) , after it logged a more than 40% jump in expected production costs at a lithium project in Western Australia. Shares of Mineral Resources tumbled 9.7% to top losses on the ASX200.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.8% to finish the session at 11,934.98.

Dairy producer Synlait Milk (SML) hit a record low on slashing its profit outlook for a second time.