Australian shares fell on Wednesday as investors digested July's domestic consumer price index report.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.4%, or 36.80 points, to close at 9,127.80.
Overnight on Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose by 0.7%.
Brent crude oil futures fell to trade around $86 per barrel after Iran and Oman restarted talks over the Strait of Hormuz.
On the domestic front, Australia's CPI rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July, down from 3.8% in the 12 months to June, while trimmed mean inflation held steady at 3.6%, according to a Wednesday report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australia's total construction work done in seasonally adjusted terms fell 2.1% sequentially to AU$82.52 billion in the June quarter. Total construction work climbed 2.7% year over year in the June quarter.
The six-month annualized growth rate in the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index rose to negative 0.2% in July from negative 0.4% in June, showing that the momentum is running below trend but is not particularly weak.
In company news, Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) logged AU$1.299 earnings per share before significant items for fiscal 2026, compared with AU$1.127 a year ago. For the 12 months ended June 28, revenue was AU$71.54 billion versus AU$69.08 billion previously.
WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) logged $0.94 in underlying EPS for fiscal 2026, compared with $0.731 a year ago. For the 12 months ended June 30, revenue from ordinary activities was $1.4 billion versus $778.7 million previously. Its shares closed down nearly 10%.
Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) logged $0.756 in underlying earnings per basic share for fiscal 2026, compared with $0.243 a year ago. For the 12 months ended June 30, sales revenue was $1.65 billion versus $1.18 billion previously.