Australian shares edged lower on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) policy meeting on Tuesday, where a 25-basis point interest rate cut is widely expected.
Lingering uncertainty surrounding United States President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff negotiations also weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 13.7 points or 0.2% lower at 8,589.3, with six of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
The materials sector came under pressure, with major miners BHP, Rio Tinto declining 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, while Fortescue ticked up 0.1%.
Gold producer Northern Star Resources plunged 8.7% after releasing an operational update that showed output at the lower end of guidance. The company also flagged a ramp-up in capital expenditure to improve future production levels.
South32 eased 0.6% after announcing it had agreed to sell its Cerro Matoso open-cut ferronickel mine in northern Colombia to a subsidiary of global industrial group CoreX.
Mineral Resources closed 2% lower after announcing the appointment of Lawrie Tremaine and Ross Carroll as independent non-executive directors.
Consumer discretionary stocks were broadly weaker, with JB Hi-Fi down 0.3%, and Wesfarmers losing 1.6%.
Utilities led the advances, as Origin Energy jumped 6.5% following a Sky News report on Saturday suggesting UK-based Octopus Energy - 23% owned by Origin - is considering bringing in investment banks to explore a demerger of its Kraken Technologies software platform.
Markets are now turning their attention to the RBA, which is widely expected to cut rates for a second consecutive month on Tuesday.
The ASX's RBA Rate Tracker was indicating a 97% expectation of an interest rate decrease to 3.60% at the next RBA Board meeting, as of 4 July.
Australian government bond yields were steady, with 10-year yields at 4.187% and 2-year yields at 3.250%.
