The Australian sharemarket slipped from three-month highs on Wednesday amid profit-taking in major financial stocks following a slightly hotter-than-expected inflation reading from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 10.7 points or 0.1% lower at 8,396.9, retreating from a fresh three-month peak reached earlier in the session following a robust rally on Wall Street overnight.
Six of the eleven major sectors ended in positive territory.
Energy led the gains, buoyed by a 3.2% surge in Woodside after the Albanese government granted approval to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas development.
Other energy stocks also rose, with Santos up 1.9%, and Beach Energy adding 2.7%.
Technology stocks mirrored gains on Wall Street, as TechnologyOne and NextDC gained 2.4% apiece, while payments firm Block climbed 4.9%.
However, financial stocks weighed heavily on the index amid a wave of profit-taking, reversing early session optimism as fresh ABS data showed core and trimmed mean inflation rising slightly, suggesting underlying price pressures remain.
Commonwealth Bank fell 0.9%, Westpac lost 1%, and National Australia Bank retreated 1.1%.
In corporate news, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 4.8% despite reporting a 43% rise in annual net profit to NZ$377.2 million (A$348.14 million), driven by higher revenues.
Mineral Resources slumped 5.5% after downgrading its full-year iron ore production guidance, marking another in a series of revisions.
Meanwhile, Web Travel Group soared 12.4% after reporting a 20% increase in bookings and a 22% rise in total transaction volumes for the full year to March.
On the bond markets, 10-year and 2-year yields lifted 1% and 1.3% to 4.336% and 3.372%, respectively.
