Australian stocks ended marginally lower today amid losses in healthcare stocks while some gains emerged in banks and miners. Globally, investors awaited US inflation data for clarity on the timing of interest rate cuts. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.2% down at 7,603.60. The benchmark eased 0.4% on Monday.
In Australia, a survey showed that consumer sentiment rebounded to a 20-month high in February, buoyed by a slowdown in inflation, which fuelled hopes interest rates had finally peaked.
Healthcare index led the losses on the benchmark index, with a decline of 1.6%.
On the economic front, Australia NAB Business Confidence improved slightly form 0 to 1 in January. Despite this marginal improvement, Business Conditions dropped from 8 to 6, with notable decreases in trading conditions from 11 to 8, profitability conditions from 7 to 5, and employment conditions also falling from 7 to 5.
In terms of cost pressures, labour cost growth remained steady at 2.0% in quarterly equivalent terms, while purchase cost growth saw a slight increase to 1.8% from 1.7%. Product price growth experienced a pickup, moving to 1.2% in quarterly terms from 0.9%, reflecting a broader trend of easing price pressures. Specifically, retail price growth rose to 0.9% from 0.5%, and the growth rate for recreation & personal services prices increased to 1.2% from 0.9%.
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