Australian shares closed lower on Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 63.30 points, or 0.72%, to close at 8,702.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%, 1.1%, and 0.7%, respectively.

Brent crude oil futures were trading around $102 per barrel as negotiations stalled between the US and Iran. Reports said the US is mulling a ban on the export of diesel for 90 days.

On the domestic front, Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in August from 4.5% in July, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.

Australia's household wealth increased 1% to AU$19.4 trillion in the June quarter, driven by strong growth in superannuation assets that offset a fall in property values, according to a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Cost-of-living stress in Australia rose to the highest level since mid-2014, with pressure concentrated in groceries, utilities, and transport, National Australia Bank's (ASX:NAB) September quarter Consumer Sentiment Survey showed.

In company news, BHP Group (ASX:BHP) said that a worker was killed while performing maintenance work at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, and all mining operational activities at Escondida were suspended.

Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) reported fiscal 2026 earnings of AU$0.8047 per share on revenue of AU$808 million, compared with earnings of AU$2.1123 on revenue of AU$831.3 million a year earlier.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) reported fiscal 2026 earnings of AU$5.8763 per share on revenue of AU$1.87 billion, compared with earnings of AU$1.1113 on revenue of AU$955 million a year earlier.