The local share market has closed at another new nadir for the year, dragged down by the Middle East conflict, rate-hike expectations and pressure from rising US bond yields.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished down 42 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 6,812.3, its lowest close since October 28, 2022.
The All Ordinaries dropped 45.2 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 7,001.1.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore attributed the drop to Wednesday's hotter-than-expected domestic inflation readout, which Mr Sycamore said made a November rate hike now appear a formality.
The session also followed a big selloff on Wall Street, where an earnings miss by Google parent company Alphabet led to its stock plummeting nearly 10 per cent, its worst single-day performance since March 2020.
US bond yields were also rising again after their pullback on Tuesday, hitting 4.96 per cent, pressuring equities.
The Australian dollar had also plunged to a one-year low, just a day after hitting a two-week high, pressured by its rising US counterpart.
The Aussie was buying 62.86 US cents, from 63.77 US cents at Wednesday's close.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, with tech the biggest loser, falling 2.6 per cent.
Megaport had plunged 16.3 per cent to a three-month low of $9.63 as the cloud connectivity company released a seemingly positive quarterly update.
All of the big retail banks were lower, with Westpac down 1.1 per cent to $20.57, ANZ dipping 0.2 per cent to $24.79 and CBA and NAB both dropping 0.4 per cent, to $97 and $28.20, respectively.
In the heavyweight materials sector, the iron ore giants gained ground amid China's plans for more fiscal stimulus to prop up its ailing economy.
BHP rose 0.5 per cent to $44.93, Fortescue added 0.9 per cent to $22.21 and Rio Tinto advanced 1.2 per cent to $117.67.
Newcrest dropped 1.3 per cent to $23.35 in its last day of trading on the ASX as its acquisition by Newmont Corp takes effect.
Woolworths fell 1.3 per cent to $35.18 as the supermarket giant received a first strike at its annual general meeting from shareholders concerned that executive pay hadn't been slashed enough following the deaths of two workers in accidents.
G8 Education was down 11.8 per cent to a 10-month low of 97c after the early childhood and care provider said occupancy was down in October from where it was a year ago.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 42 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 6,812.3.
* The All Ordinaries dropped 45.2 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 7,001.1
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 62.94 US cents, from 63.77 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 94.79 Japanese yen, from 95.54 yen
* 59.70 Euro cents, from 60.16 Euro cents
* 52.10 British pence, from 52.43 pence
* 108.62 NZ cents, from 108.97 NZ cents
