CSL, energy stocks drag Australia shares lower; tech rally limits losses

Australian shares slipped on Thursday, hit by health firm CSL Ltd and energy stocks, though gains in tech stocks tracking their U.S. peers helped limit losses.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell to 0.4% to close at 7,295.7, after losing up to 0.7% earlier to hit lowest since Dec.7. It extended losses into a third straight session.

Despite a blow-out monthly jobs report and the Reserve Bank of Australia pushing back rate hike expectations, CSL Ltd's 8.8% drop was enough to drag on the benchmark index.


CSL, one of Australia's largest stocks by market value, plunged on resuming trade after two days on announcing a discounted $5 billion placement to fund the $11.7 billion acquisition of Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma.

The stock single-handedly dragged the healthcare subindex lower by 5.1%, marking its sharpest single-day fall since March 2020.

Energy stocks fell 1.2%, slipping for the third session. Beach Energy lost the most, down about 2%.

In contrast, Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would end bond-buying stimulus in March, likely setting up three interest rate increases next year to tackle heated inflation.

Tech index was a bright spot, as it rallied 2.1% in tandem with its U.S. peers, with the sector darling Afterpay settling 1.7% higher.

Among individual stocks, diversified miner IGO Ltd jumped 2.9%, hitting a record high after announcing the acquisition of nickel producer Western Areas for at A$1.10 billion, which jumped 6.2%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed down 0.7% at 12,777.5 in its third session of losses. Data showed that the country's gross domestic product shrank 3.7% in the third quarter from the previous quarter.