Australia shares slip, as Macquarie warning weighs

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares lost ground early Friday, with financials lower after overnight Wall Street losses and a profit warning from Macquarie Group Ltd. weighed on the sector. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 4,498.6, with Macquarie Group stock down 4.7% after it said three of its key units would see a drop in profits for the fiscal first quarter. Other financial play also lost ground, with National Australia Bank Ltd. down 0.9%, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group losing 1.1%, and Westpac Banking Corp. falling 1.4%.

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