Commodity stocks drag Australian shares lower on final trading day of 2023 – Markets

Australian shares retreated on the last trading day of the year on Friday, with commodity stocks leading the fall in broad-based selling, even as bets mounted that key global central banks will start to cut interest rate from early next year.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 7,595.3 by 0032 GMT after two straight sessions of gains, but was set to post an annual rise of about 8%.

For the…