Australian shares fell 73 points, or 0.8%, to 9,074 in Friday morning trade, extending earlier losses amid broad-based weakness led by logistics, technology, and non-energy mineral stocks. Investor caution dominated ahead of next week’s October labour market report, after unemployment hovered near a five-year high in September as employment growth softened. Sentiment was further pressured by higher borrowing costs in both the U.S. and Australia, which continued to curb demand for risk assets.
A negative lead from Wall Street overnight added to the drag, following market jitters over leadership upheaval at Nvidia. Among notable laggards, SGH Ltd. dropped 3.2%, Codan Ltd. fell 2.5%, and Qantas Airways declined 1.9%. The big four banks were down between 0.1% and 0.6%, while BHP Group slipped 0.7% on the back of softer iron ore prices and a stronger U.S. dollar.
Despite the session’s pullback, the ASX 200 remained on track for a third consecutive weekly gain, up about 0.7% so far this week, supported by sustained buying interest and growing expectations of stronger policy support from China—Australia’s largest trading partner—to underpin domestic demand in the face of both local and global headwinds.
