Australian Shares Ease, Financials Weigh On Sentiments

Stocks slipped in Australia following a decline in banking and financials amid a mostly weak outing for major stock markets in the region. Profit selling was also visible after the ASX All ordinaries hit a nearly a decade high last week. The index closed at 6308 today, down 0.21% on the day. Similar moves were seen in S&P/ASX 200, which dropped around 0.20% to close at 6210 after recent gains.

Some buying emerged in resource linked stocks as global Copper prices stayed supported following a recovery from three week lows. Metal traders eyed the cues from China. China will lower some banks reserve requirement ratios (RRR) by 50 basis points on July 5, the country's central bank said Sunday. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will cut the RRR for most banks to support qualified debt-to-equity swap programs and help small businesses in financing.

However, the financials were in for a slide after Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) stepped up plans to spin off its wealth management business following a series of recent scandals. This took a toll on other stocks in the banking space. CBA dropped 2.3% while ANZ and NAB fell 1.1% each. Westpac also eased 0.6% to ensure that the major names in the industry witness asetback.

However, miners edged up steadily. Global mining giants BHP gained 1.4% while Rio Tinto rose around 1%. Traders also eyed cues from the US markets on Friday where DOW managed to end an eight session losing streak. Price action in base metals has been sloppy in last few days despite a staggered recovery in COMEX Copper and mining shares could face selling pressure on rallies.

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