Australian shares slipping as banks, gold drags

The Australian share market was lower at midday after earlier gains as investors absorbed Republican Donald Trump's election victory as well as corporate earnings.

At noon on Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 index had lost 38 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8161.5 points. The broader All Ordinaries was down 39.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8416.4

US equities jumped, the greenback shot higher and bond yields surged as the Republican former president defeated Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.

Moomoo Australia market strategist Jessica Amir said investors appeared to be buying "every and any risk asset that could benefit from Trump's pro-business, low-regulation, low-tax stance".

"For the most part, stocks and risk assets should perform strongly over the coming weeks and months, with the US Federal Reserve expected to cut rates for the second time this year on Friday, ahead of what could be a gangster 'Santa rally'," she said.

Locally, she expected AI, technology, steel, and crypto stocks to perform well, with gold miners likely "on the nose" as the metal's price sunk.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday it was not yet clear how a second Trump administration would influence the domestic inflation outlook and trajectory for interest rates.

Eight of the 11 ASX 200 sectors were lower at midday, led by a 0.6 per cent fall in financial stocks.

National Australia Bank shares sunk after posting a lower profit than the year prior, reflecting tough home loan competition, and were down 3.1 per cent, to $38.05, at midday.

CBA and Westpac had also lost some ground, down 0.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively, while ANZ was up a modest 0.4 per cent.

Materials were also lower, dragged down by steep losses in gold stocks, with Evolution Mining dropping 6.6 per cent and Northern Star tracking 6.1 per cent lower.

That came as index heavyweights were rising, with Fortescue up 1.4 per cent at noon, Rio Tinto gaining 1.2 per cent and BHP 0.3 per cent higher.

Shares of Sigma Healthcare surged as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the $8.8 billion merger with pharmacy business Chemist Warehouse.