The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Thursday as investors waited for the next catalyst to help drive the S&P/ASX 200 Index to a fresh peak.

The ASX 200 slipped just 2.9 points to 8538.9 points at the close after trading in a narrow range. Seven of 11 sectors were in the green, led by healthcare, although index bellwether CSL dropped 1.3 per cent to $242.96.

Even so, the bourse remains within 20 points of an all-time closing record. It hit its all-time second-highest level on Wednesday when Commonwealth Bank topped $300 billion in market capitalisation for the first time.

The ASX tracked a lacklustre session on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 Index closing flat as investors mulled a surprise contraction in the US non-manufacturing sector for the first time in a year. The data prompted traders to price in at least two rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve this year, pushing the Nasdaq marginally higher.

‘Red herring moment’

Jessica Amir, a market strategist at investment platform Moomoo, said Australian traders were awaiting a “big red herring moment” to spur the sharemarket.

“One of those big moments could be the likely trade talks between China and the US this week or an RBA interest rate cut in July, for which expectations are growing,” she said. “The market is always waiting for something.”

The big banks finished mixed, with Commonwealth Bank bouncing back after some early profit-taking. The index bellwether closed at a fresh record after inching up 0.1 per cent to $181.34. National Australia Bank and ANZ were marginally lower.

The major miners edged higher and shrugged off iron ore’s 1 per cent fall in Singapore, with Fortescue up 1.5 per cent to $15.49 and Rio Tinto edging up 0.3 per cent to $110.01. Futures contracts for the steel-making commodity in Singapore fell to $US94.55 and neared a one-month low.

Meanwhile, a rally in lithium stocks led the resources sector higher after the US government granted American miner Albemarle $US150 million ($230 million) to fund a new processing facility. On the ASX, Mineral Resources jumped 14.8 per cent to $23.19 and Liontown Resources climbed 5.7 per cent to 64.5¢.

Rare earths stock Lynas leapt 12.5 per cent to $9.26 after major European carmakers said China’s rare earths export controls were disrupting its supplier networks.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, IperionX leapt 28.8 per cent to $4.78 after being awarded a contract by the US Department of Defence worth up to $US99 million to supply titanium components and parts, as the Trump administration looks to fortify domestic critical minerals supply.

Tyro slumped 10.4 per cent to 82¢ following the news that chief executive Jon Davey would step down after accepting the top job at a “private-equity backed business”.

Pacific Current Group dropped 4.9 per cent to $10.80 following a media report that it accused Nasdaq-listed Abacus Global Management of “systematically overvaluing” its assets. The ASX-listed boutique asset manager is an investor in Abacus.

And Catapult slipped fell 1 per cent to $6.16 after announcing it had acquired US sports technology company Perch for $US18 million.