The Australian market is trimming its early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,000 mark, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.60 points or 0.50 percent to 7,959.40, after hitting a low of 7,936.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.80 points or 0.58 percent to 8,177.30. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.
Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 4 percent, while Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are adding more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, Appen is declining more than 3 percent, Zip is slipping more than 7 percent, Xero is edging down 0.4 percent and WiseTech Global is sliding almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is declining more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging down 0.3 percent, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 5 percent.
In other news, shares in Reject Shop are skyrocketing almost 110 percent after reports that Canada's Dollarama will acquire the Australian discount retailer at a more than 100 percent premium.
Shares in Core Lithium are surging more than 5 percent after it released a key update on its restart study for the Finniss Lithium Operation in the Northern Territory. The restart study is on track for completion in the June quarter of 2025.
Shares in Healius are soaring almost 11 percent after the pathology services company released a detailed transformation plan and announced plans to pay 41.3 cents per share special dividend.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Thursday.
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Market Analysis
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.