The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 13.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 8585.20 as a sell-off in the energy sector on weaker oil prices was offset by a strong rally in mining stocks.
The All Ordinaries slipped 0.1 per cent.
Woodside Energy fell 2.4 per cent to $23.40 after Brent crude slid 2.7 per cent to settle at $US58.92 a barrel overnight.
Ampol was down 1.4 per cent to $32.12.
Santos fell 1.2 per cent to $6.04.
DroneShield tumbling 12.1 per cent to $2.47 following a rally of more than 20 per cent earlier in the week.
Northern Star and Catalyst Metals rose 3.8 per cent to $27.12 and 8.4 per cent to $7, respectively.
IGO jumped 11.6 per cent to $7.63.
Liontown Resources rose 11.8 per cent to $1.51 after JPMorgan upgraded both lithium stocks.
GrainCorp slumped 15.5 per cent to $7.09 after agreeing to sell its interest in GrainsConnect Canada at a loss of between $5 million and $10 million while warning of a weaker-than-expected east coast harvest.
Humm Group surged 10.6 per cent to 73¢ after Credit Corp lobbed a takeover bid for the fintech, offering a scheme of arrangement at 77¢ a share or an off-market takeover at 72¢.
Credit Corp fell 2.9 per cent to $13.54.
Sandfire Resources rose 1 per cent to $16.82 after the copper producer said an updated pre-feasibility study confirmed the development potential of its fully permitted Black Butte project in Montana.
PointsBet added 0.6 per cent to 90¢ after appointing Andrew Catterall as group chief executive, subject to gaming licensing and regulatory approvals.
US
US tech stocks fell on Wednesday, as news that Oracle has lost a key backer for a data centre project reignited investor concerns over soaring spending by artificial intelligence companies and the debt that is funding it.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3 per cent by early afternoon in New York, with Oracle falling 5 per cent.
Oracle shares have now lost nearly half their value since they peaked in early September as the company finds itself at the centre of Wall Street’s growing unease over the vast debt being taken on to fund the build-out of AI infrastructure.
The Dow industrials surrendered early gains, dragged down by a slide in shares of Caterpillar.
Medline, a medical-supplies manufacturer and distributor, rose more than 20% in their trading debut Wednesday after the company raised $6.26 billion in the largest U.S. IPO since 2021.
Nvidia was down 3.4 per cent.
Alphabet dipped 2.6 per cent.
Broadcom was down 5.4 per cent.
Commodities
JPMorgan has upgraded its outlook for lithium, citing higher demand forecasts and widening near-term supply deficits that are expected to support higher prices.
Economy
UK borrowing costs are set to edge down next year, according to Wall Street forecasts, as the Bank of England’s rate cuts help ease worries over the sustainability of the public finances. ($FT)
Property prices in London have fallen at the fastest pace in nearly two years, as a steep decline in the cost of flats helped widen the gap between the UK capital and the rest of the country in the run-up to Rachel Reeves’ Budget. ($FT)
Investors are snapping up Venezuela’s defaulted debt in a bet that a potential end to Nicolás Maduro’s regime could unlock the once-distant prospect of repayment. ($FT)
Business
Warner Bros Discovery is planning to recommend to its shareholders as soon as Wednesday that they reject Paramount’s $108bn hostile bid, with the Hollywood group sceptical that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison will backstop the deal. ($FT)
JPMorgan Chase has withdrawn almost $350bn in cash from its account at the Federal Reserve since 2023 and ploughed much of it into US government debt, as the bank tries to defend itself against rate cuts that threaten to erode its profits. ($FT)
Global companies are seeking private equity partners in China to take on their local operations as they grapple with an increasingly competitive local market, a sluggish economy and volatile US-China relations. ($FT)
Currencies
ANZ analysts say the Australian dollar has paused its recent rally, trading in the low- to mid-US66¢ range, with further downside constrained by broad US dollar weakness.
Deal Flow
Amazon is in talks to invest more than $10bn in OpenAI and sell it more chips and computing power, in the latest investment deal tying the AI start-up to its infrastructure providers. ($FT)
Trade Republic has become Germany’s most valuable start-up after investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund agreed to back the fintech at a €12.5bn valuation. ($FT)
Diageo has agreed to sell its stake in its Kenyan business to Japan’s Asahi in a deal worth $2.3bn, as the struggling drinks group looks to reduce its debt load through divestments. ($FT)
Andersen Group, the tax and consulting firm started by alumni of Enron’s collapsed accounting firm Arthur Andersen, is set to make its market debut on Wednesday after raising $176mn in an initial public offering. ($FT)
Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, is in talks with investors for a funding round that would value the company at more than $100bn as it gears up to deploy in more big cities. ($FT)
Private equity-owned medical supply group Medline Industries is weighing an offering of up to $7bn in an upsized share sale on Tuesday, in a signal of investor interest in one of the biggest listings this year. ($FT)
Independent Research
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 2pts to 81.5; plunges to its lowest for over a year since August 2024. (RM)
Business Confidence in the Mining industry has soared in the last six months during discussions, and eventually the signing, of critical mineral and rare earths deals between the Australian and US Governments worth billions of dollars in October 2025. (RM)
Telecommunications industry is Australia’s second most distrusted and Optus is the most distrusted brand in the country. (RM)
