ASX down, miners and energy weigh

SYDNEY, AAP – Australia’s share market has recovered some early losses after Reserve Bank meeting minutes showed plenty of caution over the prospect of a rate rise.

The market had improved to be lower by 0.55 per cent on Tuesday following most Wall Street indices closing lower during a week in which US rates are tipped to rise.

The Australian market picked up after minutes of the Reserve Bank’s March meeting showed concern about the war in Ukraine and wages growth.

“The war in Ukraine and the associated increase in energy prices has created additional uncertainty about the inflation outlook,” the minutes said.

Another factor in hiking rates, wages growth, remained modest.

Financial shares were doing best on the ASX and were higher by one per cent.

The commodity categories of energy and materials were the biggest weights. They were down by two and three per cent respectively.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 39.9 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 7109.5 points at 1200 AEDT.

The index is down about 500 points from its record high in August last year.

The All Ordinaries index was lower by 51.7 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 7370.5 points.

The losses follow the market’s biggest gain in six weeks on Monday.

In stock news, telecommunications provider Uniti Group had its shares soaring after takeover talk in the media.

Uniti paused its shares soon after trading began and said it would respond to media reports soon.

Uniti last traded higher by 16 per cent to $3.68.

Pathology and imaging provider Healius declared an on-market share buyback of up to $100 million.

The buyback will take place in the next 12 months.

Healius was up three per cent to $4.47.

Donation software vendor Pushpay gave a more detailed forecast of its full-year earnings.

Underlying earnings are tipped to rise on the previous 12 months by up to 10 per cent and fit in a range of $US61.5 million to $US63.5 million.

Pushpay was up six per cent to $1.03.

Investors in energy provider Senex are voting on a takeover bid from Posco International.

The board has encouraged investors to accept Posco subsidiary K-A Energy’s offer of $4.60 per share.

Before vote results were revealed, Senex was little changed at $4.59.

The big four banks, as well as Bank of Queensland, were each one per cent higher. Bendigo Bank gained two per cent to $10.01.

The miners were having a rough time. Fortescue and Rio Tinto each lost four per cent to $17.14 and $106.59 respectively. BHP shed three per cent to $45.59.

The Australian dollar was buying 71.90 US cents at 1200 AEDT, lower than 72.55 US cents at Monday’s close.