The Australian market ended the last trading session of the week and the month on Friday in negative territory, as traders preferred to lock in profits ahead of the weekend and key economic data related to GDP from the US later in the day. Weak closing on Wall Street in the previous session on economic concerns as well as weak trading across other markets in the neighborhood also impacted market sentiment. Banks and resource stocks led the decline in cautious trading.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index declined 30.60 points, or 0.68%, and closed at 4493 points, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,507, representing a loss of 28.80 points, or 0.63%.
On the economic front, a statement released by the Reserve Bank of Australia revealed that total credit provided to the private sector by the financial intermediaries in the country increased 0.2% month-on-month in June, following an increase of 0.5% in the previous month. Compared to June 2009, total credit to the private sector rose 2.8%, the statement noted. The statement further noted that housing credit increased by 0.4% on a monthly basis, following an increase of 0.6% in May. On a yearly basis, housing credit was up 8.2%. Other personal credit fell by 0.3% compared to May, while business credit was flat. Year-over-year, other personal credit increased 3.1% while business credit declined 5%.
Light sweet crude oil futures for August delivery ended at $78.06 a barrel in electronic trading, down $0.30 per barrel from previous close at $78.36 a barrel in New York on Thursday.
Banks ended in the red on profit taking. ANZ Bank slipped 0.60%, Commonwealth Bank shed 0.85%, National Australia Bank was down 0.79% and Westpac Banking lost 1.07%. Investment banking company Macquarie Group plunged 3.10%.
Mining and metal stocks also ended in negative territory. BHP Billiton was down 0.84%, Rio Tinto fell 1.24%, Fortescue Metals shed 1.15%, Gindalbie lost 2.02%, Macarthur Coal declined 1.42%, Mincor Resources shed 1.98%, and Murchison Metals plunged 2.66%. However, Oz Minerals bucked the weak trend and ended in positive territory with a gain of 1.23%.
Mixed trading was witnessed among gold related stocks. While Lihir Gold ended in positive territory with a gain of 0.25%, Newcrest Mining ended in negative territory with a loss of 0.03%.
Oil related stocks also ended weaker. Woodside Petroleum slipped 0.29%, Santos fell 1.99%, Oil Search shed 0.68% and Origin Energy was down 1.22%. However, ROC Oil Co., bucked the trend and ended in positive territory with a gain of 1.43%.
In the U.S., stocks ended moderately lower on Thursday, as mixed indications from the Federal Reserve, the labor market and the earnings front prompted some selling in the equity markets. With the declines, the major averages pulled back further off their recent highs. The Dow fell by 30.72 points or 0.3% to 10,467, the Nasdaq declined by 12.87 points or 0.6% to 2,252 and the S&P 500 slid by 4.60 points or 0.4% to 1,102.
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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.