Australian shares inch lower as mining, tech stocks drag

April 6 (Reuters) – Australian shares slipped on Thursday as losses in mining and tech stocks outweighed gains in gold equities, while investors digested comments from the country’s top banker on future rate hikes.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.2% to 7,220.6 by 0136 GMT, after eight straight sessions of gains. The benchmark rose 0.02% on Wednesday.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe said on Wednesday interest rates had been held steady this month to allow more time to assess the impact of past hikes, but the board would assess policy again in May with updated forecasts for the economy and inflation.

Meanwhile, a growing wave of weak U.S. economic data deepened worries that the Federal Reserve’s rapid interest rate hikes might tip the U.S. economy into a recession.

In Australia, export-reliant miners .AXMM slipped 0.3% to become the biggest drag on the benchmark. BHP Group BHP.AX and Fortescue Metals FMG.AX eased 0.6% and 0.1%, respectively.

Tech stocks .AXIJ tracked the Nasdaq lower and were last down 0.7%. ASX-listed shares of Block Inc SQ2.AX fell 1.3%, while Xero XRO.AX dropped 1%.

Financials .AXFJ and energy stocks .AXEJ lost 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD rose 0.2% as bullion prices touched their highest in a year overnight. Sector giants Newcrest Mining NCM.AX and Northern Star Resources NST.AX rose more than 0.8% each. GOL/

Among individual stocks, Elanor Investors ENN.AX rose about 16% after the investment management firm said it would by Challenger’s Australian real estate funds management business.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3% to 11,901.68, a day after the central bank unexpectedly raised its cash rate by 50 basis points to a more than 14-year high of 5.25%.

(Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Nausheen.Thusoo@thomsonreuters.com))

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