The Australian share market has finished slightly lower as losses by the big banks outweigh gains by the iron ore giants.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished 15.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 7,713.6 while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 15.5 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 7,974.0.
It was the third consecutive day of listless trading for the local bourse, which IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said was still shell-shocked after Monday's steep 1.8 per cent sell-off and wondering what comes next.
Overnight US retail sales and producer price index data could serve as a catalyst one way or the other.
The readouts will be the among the last data points the Fed receives before next week's rate-setting committee meeting.
Four of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher, four finished lower and industrials, property and utilities were all basically flat.
The exchange's two heavyweight sectors went in opposite directions, with materials gaining 1.9 per cent and financials dropping the same amount.
All of the Big Four banks lost ground with ANZ and Westpac falling 3.8 per cent, to $28.68 and $26.47 respectively, while NAB declined 2.8 per cent to $33.50 and CBA dipped 1.1 per cent to $116.22.
The big miners were higher as copper hit a seven-month high following a plan by smelters in China to cut output.
BHP rose 2.7 per cent to $43.06 and Rio Tinto climbed 1.9 per cent to $119.19, while Fortescue added 0.1 per cent to finish at $24.53.
Goldminers also did well as the precious metal rebounded to trade near its all-time high, at $US2,169 an ounce.
Evolution climbed six per cent to a two-month high of $3.38 and Northern Star was up 1.9 per cent to $14.01.
Arafura Rare Earths soared 76.3 per cent to a six-month high of 26c after the $600 million Perth-headquartered company secured $US533 million in Commonwealth government financing to develop its Nolans rare earth project 120km north of Alice Springs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the investment would help Australia become "a renewable energy superpower" and was a major vote of confidence in the Northern Territory.
Aussie Broadband plunged 18.0 per cent to a six-month low of $3.55 and Superloop soared 24.8 per cent to a four-year high of $1.31 after the two companies announced that Origin Energy was switching the provider of its white-label broadband offering from the former to the latter.
Superloop, which is granting Origin at least 19.6 million of shares in exchange for the six-year deal, said the additional 130,000 subscribers would be a step-change in its customer base.
Myer rose 7.6 per cent to 85.5c after announcing that former Qantas Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth would replace John King as Myer CEO when he retires in June.
"My immediate priorities will be ensuring we are delivering a great in-store experience with a world-class range and best-in-class customer service," Ms Wirth said.
Appen fell 17.1 per cent to 80c after the struggling AI training dataset company reported that a tentative takeover offer had collapsed after Appen disclosed it in response to an ASX query letter asking why its shares were soaring.
It's not the first time that Australia's culture of corporate transparency, driven by strict continuous disclosure requirements, has clashed with American business preference for secrecy until a deal is finalised.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.15 US cents, from 66.17 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 15.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7,713.6
* The broader All Ordinaries dropped 15.5 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 7,974.0.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 66.15 US cents, from 66.17 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 97.84 Japanese yen, from 97.62 yen
* 60.46 Euro cents, from 60.55 Euro cents
* 51.71 British pence, from 51.72 pence
* 107.40 NZ cents, from 107.27 NZ cents
