Australian shares plunge as US government shutdown ends
Australian shares closed lower on Thursday, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s legislation to end the U.S. government shutdown.
The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5%, or 46.1 points, to finish at 8,753.4, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
With the government resuming normal operations, federal employees returned to work on Thursday. However, clearing the backlog caused by the shutdown may take days or even week.
"Data-starved investors are hoping the imminent end of the Government shutdown will mean the economic data will begin to flow again so a clearer read on the world's biggest economy can be derived," said Harry Ottley, economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
On the domestic front, Business confidence in Australia fell 2 points in October, but remains just above its long-run average after improving through mid-2025, National Australia Bank said.
Consumer inflation expectations fell by 0.3 percentage points in November to 4.5% from 4.8% in October, according to the Melbourne Institute Survey of Consumer Inflationary Expectations.
In company news, DroneShield said that, based on investor feedback, the recent drop in its shares could be attributed to its disclosure of the disposal of its shares by certain directors on Wednesday. Shares of the company fell past 31% in recent Thursday trade.
GrainCorp reported fiscal 2025 earnings of AU$0.18 per share, down from AU$0.275 a year earlier. Shares of the company fell 11% at market close.
Lastly, Webjet Group reported preliminary fiscal first-half underlying after-tax net profit of AU$7.8 million, up from AU$6.7 million a year earlier, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse. Shares of the company fell past 17% at market close.
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