Australia's share market has fallen for a fourth time in five sessions as concerns about China's economy and the future of US interest rate hikes sour sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday fell 49.2 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 7,146.0.
The broader All Ordinaries dropped 47.4 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 7,364.4.
The ASX200 closed at its lowest level since July 12 and has dropped 2.6 per cent since last Friday's close, putting it on track for its worst weekly losses since a 3.9 per cent drop a little over a year ago.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP the ASX had been hit by a "triple whammy" involving concerns about China's weakening economy, rising bond yields in the United States and the weakening Australian dollar, which hit a fresh nine-month low on Thursday.
A number of offshore investors have their trillion-dollar portfolios based in US dollars, Mr Sycamore noted.
"And what that means is they're basically losing money on their Australian stock portfolios on two fronts, on the fact that the currency is undermining their investment and the fact that the ASX200 has had a really tough August," he said.
"So that's a big part of the picture."
The Australian dollar dropped under 64 US cents for the first time since November 2022 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the unemployment rate rose more than expected in July, climbing from 3.5 per cent to 3.7 per cent.
While the school holidays that month may have contributed to a weakening in the labour market, some economists saw the readout as further confirmation the Reserve Bank's rate-hiking cycle was at an end.
"For the RBA, which has paused for the last two months, today’s data will be another reason to stay on the sidelines," wrote Royal Bank of Canada's Sydney-based chief economist Su-Lin Ong.
Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, with industrials, consumer staples, health care and telecommunications down more than one per cent.
Telstra dropped 2.8 per cent to $4.13 after reporting its full-year profit was up 13.1 per cent to $2.1 billion.
Origin Energy rose 1.8 per cent to $8.51 as the utility reported it had swung to a full-year net profit of $1.06 billion, from a loss of $1.43 billion the previous year, as it benefited from high oil and gas prices.
All of the big four banks were lower, with Westpac falling 1.9 per cent to $21.36, NAB retreating 2.1 per cent to $27.81, ANZ dropping 0.9 per cent to $24.59 and CBA dipping 0.1 per cent to $99.65.
Among the iron ore giants, BHP was flat at $43.11, Fortescue Metals was down 0.3 per cent to $20.13 and Rio Tinto was up 1.1 per cent to $104.77.
The Australian dollar was buying 63.99 US cents, from 64.64 US cents at Wednesday's close, and down from over 68 US cents a month ago.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 49.2 points, or 0.68 per cent, at 7,146.0.
* The All Ordinaries dropped 47.4 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 7,364.4
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.00 US cents, from 64.64 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 93.61 Japanese yen, from 94.07 Japanese yen
* 58.82 Euro cents, 59.20 Euro cents
* 50.26 British pence, from 50.79 pence
* 107.97 NZ cents, from 108.15 NZ cents.
