Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trimming its early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,700 level, with weakness in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 65.00 points or 0.74 percent to 8,700.30, after hitting a low of 8,645.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 62.80 points or 0.70 percent to 8,893.40. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing more than 2 percent each, while Fortescue is slipping more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is down almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent, Appen is declining almost 5 percent and Zip is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing almost 2 percent, while Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are declining more than 2 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent and Newmont is down more than 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are slipping almost 2 percent each.

In economic news, employment in Australia increased by 39,500 to a new record of 14.84 million in August 2026, reversing a marginally revised 15,900 decline in the previous month and easily exceeding market expectations for a 20,000 gain. Employment expanded by 238,100, or 1.6 percent from last year.

Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched up to 4.6 percent in August, surpassing both market expectations and July's figure of 4.5 percent. It was the highest since November 2021. The number of unemployed increased 28,200 to a five-year high of 722,900 from 694,700 in July. The participation rate edged up to 67.1 percent, above expectations and July's figure of 66.9 percent, marking the highest since April 2025.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.703 on Thursday.