Nov 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose marginally on Thursday after a three-day slide, with financials and gold stocks leading the gains, even as better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data dampened hopes of a pivot by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.1% to 7,131.10 by 2356 GMT. The benchmark had closed 0.3% lower in the previous session.
Data released overnight showed retail sales in the United States rose more than expected last month, clouding the inflation outlook and hopes that the Fed could ease its aggressive rate hikes.
In Australia, gold stocks gained 0.9% as bullion prices hovered near three-month highs, while investors' focus shifted from global tensions to the Fed's rate-hike strategy.
Top gold miner Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources climbed 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively.
Financials were up 0.2%, with three out of the "big four" banks gaining between 0.5% and 1.5%.
In corporate news, fund manager Pendal Group and buyer Perpetual decided to tweak the buyout structure of their $1.58 billion deal by reducing the cash component and hiking the stock component.
Shares of ASX Ltd declined 3% after the bourse operator said it would pause its clearing software replacement project. ASX said it would take a pretax charge of up to A$255 million in the first half of fiscal 2023 from the halt.
Healthcare and tech stocks were among the top percentage gainers on the Australian bourse, climbing 0.7% and 1% respectively.
Energy stocks fell 0.9% following a dip in oil prices overnight. Heavyweights Santos and Woodside Energy dropped 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
Miners slipped 0.8%, with index heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group losing between 0.3% and 1.7%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.5% at 11,288.00. (Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
