The Australian sharemarket finished slightly lower on Friday as major banking stocks retraced yesterday's gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 16.6 points or 0.2% to 8,310.4, finishing the week with marginal gains of 0.2%.
Eight of 11 sectors finished higher, despite losses in the financials and communication services sectors, following the market’s 1.4% gain on Thursday.
ANZ Group dipped 1.8%, National Australia Bank lost 1.7%, and Commonwealth Bank declined 1.2%.
Meanwhile, the materials sector added 0.4% overall, with BHP up 0.2%, Fortescue Metals adding 1.8% and Champion Iron up 2.2%.
Mining giant Rio Tinto bucked the trend, finishing 0.7% lower after Bloomberg reported that it is in merger discussions with Glencore. If completed, the deal would surpass BHP as the largest mining group globally.
Among data releases, annual economic growth in China reached 5.4% in Q4 2024, beating market expectations of 5% growth.
Among individual companies, Insignia Financial rose 6.5% after CC Capital increased its takeover bid to $4.60 per share, valuing the offer at A$3.1 billion. The revised bid follows Bain Capital’s move earlier in the week to match CC Capital’s prior $2.9 billion offer.
Lynas Rare Earths declined 0.9% after reporting reduced production in the December quarter.
Lovisa surged 7.7% after receiving an “overweight” rating from Morgan Stanley, signalling confidence in the retailer's future growth.
On the bond markets, yields remained steady, with 10-year and 2-year bonds yielding 4.493% and 3.938%, respectively.
