BUZZ-Australian financial stocks hit 2-month low as rate-cut bets ease

Reuters04-19

** Australian banking sub-index drops as much as 1.8% to 7052.800 points, hitting its lowest level since Feb 15

** AXFJ among the biggest laggards on the benchmark index

, which was down 1.1%

** Losses come amid hawkish commentary from U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on monetary policy, dampening investor hopes of rapid interest rate cuts this year

** Commonwealth Bank of Australia , the country's top lender, was down 1.4% to hit lowest level since Jan 4

** National Australia Bank , Westpac banking Corp

and ANZ Group decline between 1% and 1.4%

** Sub-index set for worst week since mid-August, if trend holds

** AXFJ up 6.3% this year, as of last close, vs a 0.7% increase in the ASX 200 benchmark

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru)

((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com;))

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap
Leave a comment