End-of-day summary:
Aussie shares posted a loss for October as falling US stock futures helped drag the local market to a second straight loss.
The ASX 200 gave up 20 points or 0.25% on the last session of the month. Gains today in tech companies and some of the banks were outmuscled by declines in supermarkets, utilities and miners.
Today's fall ensured the market closed 110 points or 1.33% lower for a month that brought a new all-time high before a bond market sell-off, a choppy US earnings season and diminished hopes for interest rate cuts took their toll on buying interest.
The index touched its weakest level since October 4 this morning following poorly-received after-market trading updates from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. At the Australian market close, S&P 500 futures were down 0.45% and Nasdaq futures down 0.62%.
