The Australian sharemarket retreated on Thursday, with market participants monitoring rising oil prices amid dimming prospects for peace in the Middle East, while global bond yields pushed higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 92.0 points or 1.0% at 8,819.4, with 10 of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
The Materials sector led losses; BHP fell 1.8%, Rio Tinto lost 2.7% and Fortescue declined 2.4%.
Information technology stocks also closed lower, with Xero down 4%, WiseTech Global losing 1.6% and TechnologyOne dipping 1.3%.
Financials closed lower across the board, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 1.3%, National Australia Bank losing 1.4%, Westpac falling 1.6% and ANZ declining 0.4%.
Among individual movers, shares in GrainCorp tumbled 4% after the agriculture business announced it had cut around 80 jobs and delayed a major part of its technology upgrade.
Nine Entertainment also fell 5.4% after announcing an extension to its Australian streaming and broadcast rights agreement for the Premier League until 2034.
Rising bond yields also kept risk sentiment in check as the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2023 after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would buy up to US$6 billion of longer-dated debt, disappointing some investors who had expected a larger increase.
On the local bond markets, 10-year and two-year rates fell 0.5% and 1.3% to 5.25% and 4.869%, respectively.
