The Australian sharemarket is expected to open lower on Friday, with ASX futures at 6.38am AEST pointing to a 39-point, or 0.4%, fall at the opening bell.
Investors will be watching another busy day of corporate earnings, with QBE Insurance and Baby Bunting among companies reporting results, while Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock is due to appear before a government committee.
Overseas, Wall Street finished at a fresh record high as technology stocks rallied and softer-than-feared US producer inflation reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.
ASX finishes Thursday in the red
The S&P/ASX 200 finished Thursday down 20.90 points, or 0.2%, at 9,188.50, with 6 of the 11 industry sectors closing lower after the index recovered from steeper losses earlier in the session.
Heavyweight Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) fell 2.2% as investors took profits following its full-year result a day earlier, while Rio Tinto dropped 3.6% after details emerged of a $2.5 billion government support package designed to keep the Tomago aluminium smelter operating.
The agreement with federal and NSW governments ends months of negotiations over the future of Australia's largest aluminium smelter, which has been struggling with elevated energy costs.
Tomago Aluminium, majority owned by Rio Tinto, will invest $1.1 billion in the facility under the arrangement, which is aimed at protecting more than 1,000 jobs.
BHP finished flat while Fortescue slipped 0.5%.
Earnings season drives major movers
Corporate earnings produced some of the biggest moves of the session.
Telstra fell 3.2% despite increasing its full-year dividend by 10.5% and announcing a new $1 billion share buyback.
The telecommunications company reported a 2.7% increase in net profit to $2.4 billion, while revenue slipped 0.8% to $22.9 billion.
ANZ Bank jumped 4.5% after reporting $1.9 billion in cash profit for the June quarter, up 2% from a year earlier.
The bank said home loan applications had fallen 12% since the May federal budget, excluding applications through a government deposit guarantee scheme.
Westpac gained 0.9% and National Australia Bank advanced 1.2%.
Treasury Wine Estates rallied 4.9% as growth in China helped offset a sharp deterioration in full-year earnings.
The winemaker reported a $1.08 billion loss as weaker alcohol demand and difficulties in its US operations weighed on performance, although stronger Chinese demand provided some encouragement for investors.
Origin Energy climbed 5.3% after its full-year profit exceeded market expectations.
Net income rose 6.3% to $1.57 billion, while underlying profit declined 22% to $1.16 billion, slightly ahead of forecasts.
Origin said Australia's energy transition was increasingly being driven by household adoption of rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles, while large-scale renewable energy and grid projects continued to face rising costs, lengthy approvals and regulatory uncertainty.
Cleanaway surges on takeover approach
Cleanaway Waste Management was the standout performer, surging 15.2% to $2.73 after receiving a takeover proposal from Swedish private equity group EQT Infrastructure.
Cleanaway has granted EQT exclusive access to its books for due diligence and indicated its board is likely to support the $3.13-per-share proposal.
The offer represents a 32% premium to Cleanaway's Wednesday closing price.
Energy stocks were mixed, with Woodside Energy down 0.7%, Santos edging 0.1% higher and Ampol adding 1%.
Technology shares benefited from strength in their US counterparts, helping WiseTech Global and data centre operator NextDC gain 1.7% each.
Wall Street reaches fresh record
US shares finished higher, with the S&P 500 setting another record as heavyweight technology stocks advanced and producer-price inflation data eased concerns about further monetary tightening.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.
Memory-chip stocks led some of the strongest gains, with Sandisk surging 14% and Micron Technology adding 4%.
Broadcom rose 0.4% and Meta Platforms climbed 2.8% as enthusiasm around artificial intelligence infrastructure remained a major driver of the market.
Recent strong forecasts from companies including Microsoft and Amazon have helped ease investor concerns about whether the substantial sums being invested in AI data centres will translate into sufficient revenue and productivity gains.
AI infrastructure companies have also been buoyed by strong earnings results. Super Micro Computer recently surged after delivering earnings well ahead of expectations, while cloud computing provider CoreWeave benefited from stronger-than-expected revenue and accelerating demand for AI computing capacity.
Nvidia, whose chips are widely used across AI infrastructure, also remained a major contributor to broader market strength.
Elsewhere, Cisco fell 8% after its revenue outlook failed to meet elevated investor expectations, while Tapestry plunged 16% after forecasting subdued annual revenue growth.
Netflix gained 5% after billionaire investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a new holding in the streaming group as part of a major portfolio reshuffle.
US Treasury yields fell following July producer price data that was broadly in line with expectations.
Annual producer-price inflation slowed to 4.7% from 5.5% in June, with the US 10-year Treasury yield dropping around 4 basis points to 4.65% and the 2-year yield falling 5 basis points to 4.15%.
European markets edge lower
European sharemarkets finished modestly lower as investors waited for eurozone inflation and economic growth data following a strong corporate earnings season.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index declined 0.1%, while the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.6%.
Mining and energy stocks were among the main drags as weaker commodity prices weighed on the market.
The basic resources sector dropped 3%, its steepest fall in more than a month, while energy shares lost 0.8%.
Among individual companies, Danish shipping group Maersk surged 9% after beating profit expectations and raising its full-year earnings guidance for a second time this year.
Higher freight rates stemming from strong demand and continuing disruption associated with the Middle East conflict supported the result.
Dutch payments company Adyen jumped 16% after lifting its annual revenue growth forecast.
Currencies steady
Major currencies were broadly steady against the US dollar.
- The euro was little changed at US$1.1526.
- The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to ¥159.54 against the dollar.
- The Australian dollar eased 0.1% to US$0.7058.
Oil, metals and gold retreat
Oil prices finished lower despite continuing concerns about supply disruption in the Middle East.
Reports that Yemen's Houthis had targeted a Saudi Aramco refinery with drones helped crude prices recover from their session lows, although Brent crude still settled 2.1% lower at US$87.07 a barrel.
Markets remain focused on geopolitical tensions and risks to energy flows through the region.
Base metals also weakened amid concerns about global economic growth.
- Copper futures slipped 0.1% and aluminium fell 0.9%.
- Gold retreated as traders took profits following a rally to more than 2-month highs, with futures falling 1.1% to US$4,420 an ounce.
- Iron ore futures were steady at US$95.05 a tonne.
Looking ahead
In Australia, investors will digest results from QBE Insurance and Baby Bunting, while RBA governor Michele Bullock is scheduled to appear before a government committee.
In the US, July retail sales data will be released and will provide another read on the health of household spending and the broader economy.
In Europe, preliminary second-quarter GDP figures are due.