The Australian sharemarket ended little changed on Friday but snapped a multi-week losing streak, supported by strength in consumer staples and technology stocks despite pressure on financials.
The S&P/ASX 200 edged down 3.20 points or 0.04% to finish at 8,614.1, with eight of the 11 sectors closing in positive territory.
The flat finish followed muted offshore leads, with United States markets shut for Thanksgiving and set for a half-session on Friday.
Futures pointed to a modestly firmer Wall Street open as expectations strengthened for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
Consumer staples were the standout performer, driven by a sharp rally in Woolworths, which surged 3.2% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.
Coles slipped 0.2%, Endeavour Group added 1.9%, and Inghams gained 1.2%.
Technology stocks added further support, with WiseTech up 4.7% and Block adding 0.7% while Xero dipped 0.7% and TechnologyOne eased 0.1%.
Financials, however, proved to be a drag. Commonwealth Bank lost 1.1%, NAB fell 1% and ANZ finished 1.3% lower.
Westpac slipped 0.8% after its New Zealand division was fined NZ$3.64 million (A$3.19 million) for breaching lender responsibility rules, including failures to provide customers with required loan information and agreed interest rate discounts.
Suncorp fell 3.6% after UBS cut its price target, citing the impact of recent severe storms in Queensland.
Among individual movers, Star Entertainment Group jumped 4.8% after issuing a cleansing prospectus to allow recently issued shares of Bally’s to trade freely on the market.
On the bond markets, the 10-year Australian yield rose 0.2% to 4.522%, while the 2-year rate held steady at 3.812%.
