BHP rose 0.7 per cent to $45.37, Fortescue climbed 0.8 per cent to $19.98 and Rio Tinto edged 0.1 per cent higher at $126.04.

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The laggards

Energy company New Hope Corporation continues to be the worst performer (down 5.6 per cent), followed by materials companies Pilbara Minerals (down 4.8 per cent) and Liontown Resources (down 4.4 per cent).

Goldminers finished lower as the precious metal fell slightly to $US2656 an ounce. Evolution dropped 1.3 per cent, Northern Star slipped 1 per cent and West African Resources retreated 2.6 per cent.

The big four banks were mixed. Westpac shed 1.3 per cent after selling its auto finance loans to ASX-listed Resimac, a non-bank lender, for about $1.5 billion by mid-next year. In a statement to the market on Thursday morning, Westpac said the sale would complete the bank’s divestment from auto-finance.

CBA rose 0.3 per cent to $134.61 after Australia’s biggest bank announced changes to its executive leadership team, including a new chief risk officer to replace the incumbent, who is retiring. NAB edged 0.1 per cent higher at $37, while ANZ edged 0.1 per cent lower at $30.08.

The lowdown

IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the market eased today in cautious trading as investors waited for updates from the Middle East after geopolitical tensions ratcheted higher.

“Adding to the cautious tone, traders were unwilling to add to positions ahead of tomorrow night’s crucial US labour market update, and with Chinese traders still absent due to the Golden Week holiday,” Sycamore wrote in a note.

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The interest rate-sensitive real estate sector was the outperformer of the day, the big miners gained as iron ore prices traded at $108.55, and lithium stocks fell after reports that two US investment banks were attempting to find a buyer of a large parcel of Pilbara shares at a 4 per cent discount to yesterday’s closing price of $3.31, he added.

Traders were also eyeing the US non-farm payrolls data for September, which will be released Friday night AEST and could influence the pace of interest rate cuts in the world’s largest economy.

Closer to home, Australia’s goods trade surplus came in virtually unchanged in August at $5.6 billion, which was close to economists’ forecasts.

Overnight, the S&P 500 finished flat, a day after sliding from its record on worries about a possible widening of the fighting in the Middle East. The Dow Jones edged up by 39 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1 per cent.

Oil prices rose again as the world awaits Israel’s response to Tuesday’s missile attack from Iran, but they pared their gains as the day progressed. After briefly topping $US76 earlier, the price for a barrel of Brent Crude settled at $US75.06, up 1.6 per cent.

While Israel is not a major producer of oil, Iran is, and a worry is that a broadening war could affect neighbouring countries that are also integral to the flow of crude. Helping to keep oil prices in check are signals that supply remains ample. The amount of crude in US inventories increased last week, according to a US government report.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after a report indicated hiring by US employers outside the government may have been stronger last month than expected.

The report from ADP Research said private-sector employers accelerated their hiring in September. That could be an encouraging signal for the more comprehensive report on the US job market due to arrive from the US government.

Stocks are near records in large part on the belief that the US economy will continue to grow, now that the Federal Reserve has shifted to cutting interest rates. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate by half a percentage point, the first cut in more than four years, and indicated more cuts would arrive through next year.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.78 per cent from 3.73 per cent. The two-year yield, which more closely follows expectations for what the Fed will do in the near term, rose to 3.63 per cent from 3.61 per cent.

Tweet of the day

Quote of the day

“We’ve been waiting to build a new house and we have lost so many opportunities because our deposit is here for four years.

“It was heartbreaking when I saw it was back on the market for half a million more. First of all, I can’t believe it can happen. I’m just heartbroken. It’s a rip-off.”

That is Madhuri Bakshi, who purchased a lot of land from developer Boyuan Holdings Limited (BHL) and its sister company Cyan Stone in 2021 worth $620,000.

After paying a 10 per cent deposit and stamp duty, four years later and no promised development to be seen, she has been shocked to see her block, now with a new lot number, back on the market for $1.1 million.

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