The sharemarket closed at its lowest level in a month on Thursday, after a hotter-than-expected jobs market and lacklustre earnings from major bank and mining stocks weighed on the bourse.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.2 per cent, or 96.40 points to 8322.80. The All Ordinaries Index retreated 1.1 per cent. Seven of the 11 sectors were in the red, with losses led by the real estate sector as Goodman Group dragged.

Official data on Thursday showed Australian employment increased by 44,000 over the month – more than expected – while the unemployment rate rose marginally to 4.1 per cent. While money markets implied little change to current forecasts for interest rate cuts, the index still fell more than 1.5 per cent on the news, before paring back some losses.

Chief Commsec Economist Ryan Felsman said the strong labour force reiterated the need for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s cautious approach to further rate cuts.

“The workforce participation rate jumped up to 67.3 per cent month on month, which is the highest level on record,” he said. “The jobs data reaffirmed what [RBA governor] Michele Bullock has said, and she wants to see some evidence of weakness [in jobs].”

The data added to the bourse’s woes after several index bellwethers posted disappointing earnings results.

News that ANZ’s impaired loans rose in the first quarter added momentum to an ongoing sell-off in Australian banks. ANZ fell 3.1 per cent to $29.21, Westpac was down 3 per cent to $31.22 and NAB 3.3 per cent to $35.11. Commonwealth Bank slipped 2 per cent to $155.73.

Fortescue’s more than 50 per cent drop in profit prompted a sell-off, with the stock tumbling 6.2 per cent to $18.24. Rio Tinto lost 1.5 per cent to $120.09, after the miner said it would pay its lowest dividend in seven years and reported an 8 per cent drop in full-year profits. That spilled over to other miners, with the ASX’s materials sector slipping 1.3 per cent.

Elsewhere, Goodman Group tumbled 5 per cent to $34.20. The property and industrials giant announced it had completed a $4 billion capital raising to turbocharge a workbook honing in on data centres.

Super Retail Group posted the largest loss on the index, plummeting 12.5 per cent to $14.17 amid concerns over the company’s handling of a whistleblower report and falling earnings.

Stocks in focus

Telstra shares jumped 5.6 per cent to $4.14 after interim net profit rose 6.5 per cent to $1.03 billion on strong earnings from the group’s mobile and infrastructure businesses.

Magellan shares tumbled 10.1 per cent to $9.08 after the fund manager’s profit fell 10 per cent, and it announced a plan to review its balance sheet management.

Aristocrat Leisure retreated 4.3 per cent to $75.13 after it announced a new share buyback program intended to raise up to $750 million. That follows the completion of its $1.85 billion buyback in January 2025.

The biggest gainer on the index was Megaport, up 19.5 per cent to $11.40, after the company upgraded the lower end of full-year revenue guidance to reflect revenue growth across all regions.

Property fund manager Charter Hall jumped 6 per cent to $17.21 after the company swung to a $61.1 million statutory profit in the six months to December, owing to lower portfolio devaluations.

And SkyCity shares plummeted 9.1 per cent to $1.20 after lower customer spending and investment in its transformation program sent its earnings down by more than one-fifth to $133 million in the half year.