Australia Market falls ahead of Powell's speech

The Australian share market finished session down on Thursday, 26 August 2021, as investors locked in gains after the market surged over the past three days. Meanwhile, sentiments was also weighed down on caution before the U.S. Federal Reserve's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, beginning later in global day, where the US Fed is expected to offer guidance on the future of stimulus support and interest rates.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 40.64 points, or 0.54%, to 7,491.23. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 39.22 points, or 0.5%, to 7,770.39.

Total 9 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Telecommunications Services was the best performing sector, gaining +0.56%, while utilities was the worst performing sector, losing 2.24%.

Shares of materials and resources declined on weaker copper prices, with global miners Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals losing about 1% each. Gold stocks were also down on subdued bullion prices, with Tribune Resources falling the most.

Financials stocks declined, with one of the "Big Four" lenders, National Australia Bank slipping 0.5% after it was fined A$18.5 millionfor issuing incorrect fee disclosure statements in a 2019 case. Westpac, ANZ and Macquarie Group also fell.

Appen shares fell 21.4% after machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) firm reported a 35% slump in its half-year underlying net profit.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, dropped to 92.890, off levels above 93 earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7264.

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