The Australian sharemarket fell on Thursday as stronger-than-expected employment data weakened expectations of another interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia next year.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 46.1 points, or 0.5%, to close at 8,753.4, with nine of eleven sectors finishing in the red.
Technology names were among the weakest performers, with Xero shedding 9%, TechnologyOne down 2.5%, and WiseTech Global trading 2.1% lower.
Property stocks also came under heavy selling pressure, with Mirvac falling 3%, Goodman Group dipping 2.2%, Charter Hall down 2.9%, and Scentre Group falling 3.3%.
Energy shares declined as oil prices extended losses overnight. Brent crude slipped further after OPEC warned that global crude supplies had surpassed demand sooner than anticipated.
Santos fell 2.2%, Woodside Energy dipped 2.8%, and Beach Energy traded 2.3% lower.
On the data front, Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.3% in October from 4.5%, while employment surged by 42,200 jobs.
Among individual stocks, DroneShield plunged 31.4% after chief executive Oleg Vornik sold nearly 15 million shares worth $49.5 million. Chairman Peter James also offloaded $12.35 million in stock.
GrainCorp tumbled 11% after reporting a 35% decline in full-year net profit to $40 million, with weaker international grain margins offsetting strong east coast volumes.
Webjet Group slumped 17.2% after issuing a profit warning, forecasting full-year earnings between $30 million and $32 million - as much as 14% below last year, and 17% below analyst expectations.
In contrast, explosives manufacturer Orica bucked the trend, rising 2.5% after posting its strongest earnings in 13 years.
On the bond markets, 10-year and two-year government bond yields rose to 4.427% and 3.733%, up 1% and 2.3%, respectively.
