The Australian market ended in negative territory on Friday, the last trading of the week, dragged down by energy related stocks after the crude oil priced declined amid volatile session in the International market in the previous session. Modest gains on Wall Street in the previous session despite weaker jobless claims report failed to enthuse traders amid concerns about measures announced by China to cool off its real estate market. Weak trading across other markets in the region also impacted market sentiment as traders preferred to exercise caution and move to the sidelines ahead of more earnings and economic data from the U.S.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index declined 17.20 points, or 0.34% to close at 4,985, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 5,007, representing a loss of 16.80 points, or 0.33%.
Light sweet crude oil futures for May delivery ended at $84.82 a barrel in electronic trading, down $0.70 per barrel from previous close at $85.51 a barrel in New York on Thursday.
Energy related stocks led the gains following drop in crude oil prices in the international market. Woodside Petroleum fell 1.64%, Santos Ltd slipped 1.70%, Oil Search shed 0.34% and Origin Energy lost 1.14%.
Mixed trading was witnessed among the mining and mineral stocks as well. BHP Billiton declined 0.80%, Rio Tinto slipped 0.47%, Fortescue Metals shed 0.74%, Gindalbie Metals plunged 5.63%, Mincor Resources fell 0.89%, and Oz Minerals lost 2.37%.
Macarthur Coal surged 8.25% on expectation that a revised offer will be made by Peabody Energy to acquire the former. Mineral Resource climbed 3.46%, while Iluka Resources remained unchanged from previous close.
Gold stocks managed to end in positive territory. Lihir Gold gained 1.02% and Newcrest Mining rose 1.35%.
Bank stocks ended in negative territory. ANZ Bank lost 1.08%, National Australia Bank shed 0.28% and Westpac Banking slipped 0.21%. However, Commonwealth Bank of Australia bucked the trend and ended in positive territory with a gain of 0.93%.
In the U.S., stocks rose by modest margins on Thursday, as the markets focused on the silver lining in today's economic data. While the Federal Reserve's reports were largely upbeat, disappointing labor market figures limited today's upside. With the upward move, the major averages all closed in positive territory for the sixth consecutive session. The Dow closed advanced by 21.46 points or 0.2% to 11,145, the Nasdaq gained 10.83 points or 0.4% to close at 2,516 and the S&P 500 rose by 1.02 points or 0.1% at 1,212.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.