The Australian sharemarket finished higher on Thursday as the pace of declines slowed on Wall Street overnight from a frenetic sell-off in the previous session.
REA Group shares were up 2.4 per cent on a strong day for real estate stocks, with Goodman and Scentre also finishing higher, and office property fund Charter Hall up 5 per cent at the close.Shares in TPG Telecom edged higher after its regional network sharing deal with Optus was given the final tick from the competition watchdog on Thursday.Oil giant Woodside shrank the most of the large caps, dropping 6.
Investment manager Challenger shed 11 per cent after saying private capital firm Apollo cut its stake in the company to 9.9 per cent, from 20.1 per cent previously, to pursue other opportunities.
Overnight, Wall Street stocks softened and bond yields tumbled after data suggested a further slowdown in America’s labour market.