The local stock market has kept declining, following an initial recovery that ultimately turned negative.
The S&P/ASX200 index finished lower by 31.9 points, or 0.41%, at 7754.3 when trading ended for the day. Meanwhile, the more comprehensive All Ordinaries dropped by 30.6 points, or 0.38%, closing at 7972.
The ranking has dropped by five percent for 2025, showing an increase of just 0.27 percent compared to last year.
A slight 0.2 percent increase, spurred by robust performances from Wall Street and lower-than-anticipated US inflation figures, had mostly dissipated by midday.
The only sector that ended positively was IT, inching up by 0.2%. In contrast, financials, energy, and materials all pulled down the index, with losses ranging from 0.3% to 0.6%.
Among the major Australian lenders, Westpac experienced the steepest decline, dropping 1.5% following a lowered price target from Morgan Stanley. In the resources sector, mining heavyweight BHP saw a decrease of 1.4%, and competitor Rio Tinto also slipped with losses amounting to 1.3%.
After Macquarie Bank lowered its coal price outlook,coal producers suffered significantly, with Yancoal plummeting by 13.6 percent and New Hope Corporation dropping by 9.8 percent.
The Aussie dollar strengthened versus the USD and is now fetching 63.10 US cents, compared to 62.93 US cents at 5 PM on Wednesday.
