Australian Shares Slide Amid US Election Jitters; REA Group Offers to Buy UK's Rightmove

Australian shares slid on Wednesday's close as investors became risk-averse, following the results of the first US presidential debate.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% or 24 points to close at 7,987.90.

The spotlight is back on US politics following the conclusion of the first presidential debate between Republican candidate former President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, Reuters reported.

"With the dust settling on the Trump vs Harris presidential debate, it's clear that the market saw this debate going to Kamala Harris," said Pepperstone's Head of Research Chris Weston.

"This debate was never going to be an exercise in digging deep into the weeds and into the granularity of the respective policies, and we're certainly not significantly wiser on that front," Weston added.

Investors are also cautiously awaiting the results of the August consumer price index, which may inform the next steps of the US Federal Reserve.

On the domestic front, Australia's labor market is expected to achieve a "better balance" as growth in job demand eases relative to supply in the coming quarters, according to a speech made by the Reserve Bank of Australia's assistant governor Sarah Hunter.

In corporate news, REA Group (ASX:REA) submitted a proposal to fully acquire UK property website firm Rightmove at 3.05 pounds sterling per share in cash and 0.0381 REA shares per Rightmove share, or a valuation of 7.05 pounds sterling per share for a total of 5.6 billion pounds sterling. REA Group's shares slid past 2% on market close.

Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) shares soared 16% on market close as the mining firm said it had received approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board to sell a 49% stake in the Onslow Iron haul road in Western Australia to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners for AU$1.3 billion.

Petratherm's (ASX:PTR) shares surged 95% on close as the mining firm found titanium-rich mineral sands from a recent evaluation of historic drill results coupled with recent mapping and surface sampling programs conducted at the Muckanippie project in South Australia.