Energy stocks advanced as oil prices rose. Woodside Energy jumped 1.1 per cent, while Ampol and Santos both rose 0.3 per cent.
Mining stocks had a mixed day. Iron ore heavyweights Rio Tinto (down 1.7 per cent), BHP (down 0.8 per cent) and Fortescue (down 1.5 per cent) all lost ground as the price of the key steel-making ingredient retreated, while gold miner Newmont rose (up 1.8 per cent).
The communications sector was stronger, buoyed by telco giant Telstra (up 1.2 per cent), TPG Telecom (up 2.7 per cent) and CAR Group (up 0.5 per cent). Supermarkets also had a positive day, with Woolworths rising 0.4 per cent and rival Coles gaining 1.6 per cent.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.1 per cent, the Dow fell 398.70 points, or 0.8 per cent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.9 per cent.
The biggest weights on the market included Nvidia, which fell 3.7 per cent, and Microsoft, which fell 2 per cent. Their huge values give them outsized influence over the market’s direction. Other big stocks dragging down the market included Amazon, which slumped 2.9 per cent.
Corporate earnings and forecasts remained the big focus for Wall Street on Thursday. The latest round of results and statements from executives could help shed light on the condition and path ahead for the economy amid a lack of broader information on inflation, employment and retail sales because of the ongoing government shutdown.
It has been a wobbly week for major indexes, which set record highs last week. The broader sharemarket has had a record-setting year, but that has raised worries that stocks could be overvalued. Those concerns are even more focused on big technology companies that have been leading the market higher amid the focus on artificial intelligence advancements.
The latest round of earnings is being closely monitored to gauge whether the sharemarket’s big values are justified. The results are also helping to fill in gaps in information because of the US government shutdown, which is now the longest on record.
Another week of unemployment data was missing on Thursday due to the shutdown. It has already resulted in a lack of monthly employment data for September and will probably result in missing employment data for October, along with a lack of data on consumer prices for October.
Beyond company updates, Wall Street is relying more on economic updates from other private sources. Private payrolls rose more than expected in October, according to a report on Wednesday from ADP, and the services sector expanded in the month, according to the Institute for Supply Management. But the data can vary widely.
Job cuts in the US surged 175 per cent in October from a year ago, according to a report published by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
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The absence of updates on the jobs market and inflation has left the Federal Reserve in the dark even as employment was weakening and inflation heating up. That leaves the central bank in a tough spot. It has to decide whether cutting its benchmark interest rate to counter the economic impact from a weaker jobs market is worth the risk of worsening inflation.
“We anticipate the Fed will continue to implement rate cuts to prevent any weakness in employment from accelerating,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “Much of the market’s optimism hinges on the assumption that policymakers will maintain some level of support.”
With AP, Bloomberg
