Thanks afternoon crew.
End-of-day summary:
A sixth straight decline in the heavily-weighted Materials sector condemned the Australian share market to a loss despite strength across the wider market as US stock futures rallied on after-market tech earnings.
The ASX 200 finished well off session lows with a loss of 14 points or 0.16%.
Tech companies helped shield the market from a deeper loss following well-received trading updates this morning from Microsoft and Meta. Standouts here included Life360, Megaport and Iress.
The materials sector was a dead-weight all session, skidding 2.56% as a recent rebound in rare earths continued to unravel and as iron ore and copper fell prey to thwarted hopes for more Chinese stimulus measures. Notable victims today included Champion Iron, Mineral Resources and Pilbara Minerals.
S&P 500 futures bounced 0.94% following this morning's after-market tech quarterlies, sharpening hopes for tonight's action following modest losses overnight. The US stock benchmark dipped 0.12% last night after the Federal Reserve left official rates unchanged and pushed back against hopes for a September cut.
