Updates to close
ASX200 notches best day in a week and closes back above 9,000 mark
NZ50 logs best day in 9 months; RNBZ keeps rates steady
Banks led the charge, buoyed by NAB's record high
BlueScope jumps 2.6% on a sweetened A$15 bln bid
By Kumar Tanishk
Feb 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday after National Australia Bank hit a record high, while New Zealand equities advanced after the central bank held rates and signalled policy would remain accommodative.
The S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO gained 0.5% to close at 9,007 points, reclaiming the 9,000 level for the first time since last Wednesday and extending gains to a third straight session.
Despite strong earnings, investors remained cautious about how banks would fare once the Reserve Bank of Australia begins raising rates, a move that could pressure asset quality and curb credit demand.
Down south, in a widely expected move, New Zealand's central bank held rates steady at 2.25%, saying it was confident inflation would return to its target band.
The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 gained 1.7% to 13,247.02 points, logging their best day in over 9 months.
In Syndey, Financials .AXFJ, up 0.6%, have climbed in the past two weeks on the back of robust earnings from all four major banks, with National Australia Bank’s NAB.AX rising as much as 5.8% to a record high after reporting a 16% growth in its first-quarter cash earnings.
While major lenders remain high‑quality and effectively "too big to fail", much of their risk is clustered in housing and domestic economy growth, Hayden Beamish, CIO at Endeavor Asset Management said.
Insurer Suncorp SUN.AX fell 4.4% to close at its lowest in a year after reporting a worse‑than‑expected slide in first‑half earnings, to cap some of the sector’s gains.
Miners .AXMM eased 0.1%, with BHP BHP.AX slipping 0.9% after its record high in the previous session, a bout of profit‑taking, as per Beamish. While rivals Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX firmed 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
BlueScope Steel BSL.AX advanced 2.6% to log their best day in a month after revealing it was weighing an improved A$15 billion ($10.60 billion) takeover proposal from SGH SGH.AX and U.S's Steel Dynamics. STLD.O
Oil producer Santos STO.AX slipped 0.6% on posting a sharper‑than‑expected drop in annual profit.
($1 = 1.4150 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk http://www.x.com/thatstanishk;))