The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Thursday with investors pressing sales almost across the board, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks faltered overnight amid renewed worries about the financial situation in Greece.
Mining, energy, financial and consumer staples stocks are mostly trading notably lower. Industrial, healthcare and property trusts stocks are also trading weak.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 65.4 points or 1.5 percent at 4,188. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,263, down 64.4 points or 1.5 percent from its previous close.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank are both trading lower by 1.5 percent, Westpac is down with a loss of 3.6 percent and Commonwealth Bank of Australia is down 0.5 percent. Bank of Queensland is down 1.8 percent, while Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is trading lower by nearly a percent.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are down 1.7 to 2.3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down with a loss of over 3.5 percent.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy are down 1.5 to 1.7 percent. Caltex Australia is trading lower by 2.2 percent.
Goodman Fielder is down nearly 5.5 percent following a sharp 77 percent decline in net profit for the six months to December 2011. Lynas Corporation is trading lower by over 4.5 percent.
Boart Longyear, Atlas Iron, Incitec Pivot, Oz Minerals and Amcor are down 3 to 4 percent. Echo Entertainment Group, Brambles, Seven West Media, Bluescope Steel, AMP, Panaust and Crown are trading lower by 2.3 to 3 percent.
Qantas Airways is trading nearly 5 percent up despite the company reporting an 83 percent drop in first-half profit to A$42 million. Primary Healthcare is gaining about 4.5 percent. Seek is up nearly 3 percent and David Jones is trading 2.8 percent up.
On the economic front, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - beating forecasts for 5.3 percent and down from December's reading of 5.2 percent.
Australia added 46,300 jobs in January, the data showed - blowing past expectations for an addition of 10,000 following the surprising loss of a downwardly revised 35,600 jobs in December.
The participation rate was 65.3 percent, matching forecasts and up marginally from 65.2 percent in December.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened lower amid uncertainty over the second bailout for Greece. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.0686, down from Wednesday's close of US$1.0752.
On Wall Street, stocks saw some volatility during the session and eventually ended the session mostly lower on Wednesday amid lingering uncertainty about the financial situation in Europe. Profit taking also contributed to the pullback by the markets.
The major averages edged up off their worst levels going into the close but remained stuck in the red. The Dow ended down 97.3 points or 0.8 percent at 12,781, the Nasdaq dropped 16 points or 0.6 percent to 2,915.8 and the S&P 500 slid 7.3 points or 0.5 percent to 1,343.2.
Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index both ended the day up by 0.4 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures closed higher for a third straight day Wednesday, after the EIA's weekly report on crude oil showed an unexpected decline in inventories and on demand concerns over tensions brewing between Iran and Israel.
Light sweet crude for March delivery gained $1.06 or 1.1 percent to settle at $101.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.