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Australian shares fell to their lowest in three months on Wednesday as worries about slower growth for the big lenders and speculation that the central bank may be done cutting interest rates weighed on the sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 1.6 per cent or 93.8 points at 5,732.7 by 0255 GMT. It fell as far as 5,715.6, a low not seen since early February.
Australia’s central bank had on Tuesday delivered a widely expected cut to its cash rate to a record low 2.0 per cent, but an absence of any forward guidance left markets wondering if it will ease again this year.
“We see the RBA as done for now and expect the cash rate to remain at 2.0 per cent in coming quarters,’’ economists at HSBC wrote in a note to clients.
Among the biggest drag on the index was Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which slumped 4.7 per cent after posting flat cash earnings of A$2.2 billion due to higher regulatory costs.
Earlier in the week, Westpac Banking Group missed first-half profit forecasts and announced its smallest dividend rise in 6-1/2 years.
“Overall, confidence that banks will continue to grow dividend is somewhat waning,’’ said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG.
“If they’re not growing revenues enough and if capital requirements are going up, that simply means they can’t keep paying out too much to investors.’’
Shares in Woolworths also slid more than 4 per cent after the supermarket operator posted its first quarterly sales decline in more than 20 years.
The mood was already soured by falls in European and US stocks overnight.
Under pressure as well, New Zealand’s benchmark NZX50 index fell 0.4 per cent or 22.2 points to 5,765.5.
Top stocks, including telecommunications provider Spark, F&P Healthcare and accounting software company Xero, were all in the red.
Bucking the general trend, Contact Energy gained 0.4 per cent, staying off an eight-month trough touched last week.
A handful of small- and mid-cap stocks offered some strength on generally slight volumes, sending the market’s small companies index a touch higher.
The quiet nature of the market was highlighted by market operator NZX’s data showing a near-13 per cent fall in transactions last month.
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