The Australian sharemarket slipped more than a 1 per cent on Thursday as losses in CSL and the big three iron ore miners offset gains in banks and leading property plays.

The S&P/ASX200 Index fell 72.9 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5883.2 points, with Wall Street provided a weak lead as tech stocks fell and the Federal Reserve signalled low interest rates until 2023.

A surprise fall in the August jobless rate to 6.8 per cent from 7.5 per cent in July did little to lift sentiment as investors focused on afternoon weakness in US futures.

Fortescue Metals Group tumbled 6.4 per cent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the iron ore producer to "underweight". Mineral Resources, which was also downgraded by the broker, fell 9.4 per cent.

BHP shed 1.8 per cent and Rio Tinto lost 3.4 per cent.

Among other blue chip laggers, CSL fell 1.9 per cent, Wesfarmers lost 1.3 per cent and Woolworths shed 0.7 per cent.

Tech stocks stumbled after the Nasdaq fell 1.4 per cent despite the impressive first day rally for Snowflake, the largest software IPO ever.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index fell 2.5 per cent. ELMO Software slumped 6.5 per cent, Afterpay lost 5.4 per cent and WiseTech retreated 4 per cent.

There was selective strength among property stocks as investors were buoyed by a decline in new COVID-19 cases and a Westpac forecast for a 15 per cent surge in house prices over 2022-2023.

Shopping mall owner Scentre Group rallied 2.2 per cent, developer Mirvac added 1.9 per cent and office landlord Dexus gained 1 per cent. Warehouse owner Goodman Group fell 1.9 per cent.