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ASX 200 benchmark extends five-day winning streak

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Financials log five days of consecutive wins

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Perpetual top loser on ASX 200

By Sneha Kumar

May 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended unchanged on

Wednesday as local stocks pared gains after adding 1.4% on

Tuesday as the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold and

signalled inflation was still high, while fund manager Perpetual

plunged 7% after private equity firm KKR said it would buy two

of its units.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 0.1% higher

at 7,804.5 points, extending winning streak to five days. The

benchmark rose 1.4% on Tuesday.

"There is some profit taking happening on the market

following Tuesday's solid gains (including in financials)," Tim

Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hold cash rate

at the "right level" of 4.35% boosted investor sentiments but

concerns remained on the timeline for inflation to reach the

target of 2%-3%.

After the upside CPI surprise in first quarter, a future

rate hike can't be ruled out given the non-linear nature of

inflation, Waterer added.

Financial services firm Perpetual said that buyout

giant KKR & Co ( KKR ) would acquire its wealth management and

corporate trust businesses for A$2.18 billion ($1.43 billion).

The Australian financial services firm's shares hit a five-month

low on Wednesday.

On a five-day winning streak, rate-sensitive financials

inched 0.2% higher with the country's top lender

Commonwealth Bank of Australia ( CBAUF ) gaining 0.3%.

Meanwhile, fellow rate-dependent real estate stocks

extended gains to a fifth session to end 0.5% higher at

one-month high.

Mirvac Group ( MRVGF ) gained 0.5% while Dexus ( DEXSF )

climbed 0.7%.

Behemoth miners retreated 0.2%, snapping a four-day

winning streak as iron ore futures slipped on high inventories

at Chinese ports.

Giants BHP Group ( BHP ), Rio Tinto and Fortescue

all ended lower in the session.

Snapping a three-day winning streak, energy stocks

edged lower while gold stocks added 0.1%.

Losing for the third straight day, New Zealand's benchmark

S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2% to 11,782.89 points.

($1 = 1.5216 Australian dollars)