The Australian sharemarket was little changed on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street, even though all sectors except materials and healthcare stocks advanced. Shares close up 0.05pc.
Cloud-based accounting software company Xero jumped close to 10.66 per cent, leading the large-cap winners after it announced a staff reductionof up to 800 employees. The job cuts come as the company, which has heavily expanded over the past years, is facing a deepening downturn in the technology sector. Other IT stocks also gained, with WiseTech climbing 2.5 per cent and Computershare adding 0.3 per cent, respectively.
Myer shares rocketed 18 per cent after the department store owner said a bounceback in CBD retail and strong online sales helped it deliver its best profit result in almost a decade. Coal miners Yancoal (up 3.6 per cent) and Whitehaven (up 2.4 per cent) also advanced.