Shares in Australia ended Thursday's session slightly in the green as gains in Gold, Financials and Healthcare supported the benchmark. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.02%.
Top movers - On a stock-by-stock basis, Objective Corp Ltd (ASX:OCL) led the index's risers, jumping 14.96% or 1.01 points to finish at 7.76. Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) added 5.21% or 0.98 points to close at 19.78, while News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS) rose 4.51% or 1.83 points to end the day at 42.42.
Largest decliners - Offsetting some of those gains, Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND) fell 8.24% or 2.57 points to 28.61 at the close. Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX:TPW) declined 7.97% or 0.48 points to 5.54, and Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) was down 5.81% or 0.85 points to 13.79.
By market breadth, advancing issues narrowly outnumbered losers on the Sydney Stock Exchange with 603 stocks higher versus 505 lower; 360 stocks finished unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX - which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options - eased 1.51% to 11.64, indicating a modest drop in option-implied market volatility.
Commodities and FX - In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery were up 0.15% or 6.07 to $4,088.47 a troy ounce. Crude oil for August delivery fell 1.21% or 0.83 to $67.75 a barrel, while the September Brent contract declined 1.10% or 0.79 to trade at $70.78 a barrel.
On the currency front, AUD/USD was effectively unchanged, moving 0.06% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY slipped 0.23% to 111.83. The US Dollar Index Futures moved down 0.09% to 101.07.
Investment tools mentioned - The session's coverage also referenced ProPicks AI, which evaluates MND alongside thousands of other companies using more than 100 financial metrics. The text notes the AI assesses fundamentals, momentum and valuation without bias and cites notable past winners including Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%). The item poses the question of whether to invest $2,000 in MND and invites readers to explore ProPicks AI strategies and comparable opportunities.
Overall, the market closed with only marginal net gains as pockets of strength in certain sectors were balanced by sharp declines in several individual stocks. Indicators including the VIX and movements in key commodities and currencies signaled restrained volatility during the session.