AU Morning Wrap: Australia Shares Decline by 0.9%; Technology, Property Sectors Drop

The Nasdaq is on track for an 18.6% first-half gain, thanks to $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$'s strong performance. Despite trading lower most of the day, Nvidia closed up 0.25%.

The broad market $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ close at 5,477.90, up 0.16%, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ advanced 0.49%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ was almost flat, up 0.04%.

The real estate sector bore the brunt of the market's downturn, shrinking by 2.4% as investors adjusted their expectations for a potential interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank in August. The financials sector, primarily comprised of major banks, saw a decline of 1.5%. Notably, the $CommBank (CBA.AU)$ saw its shares fall by 1.6% to a closing price of $124.92.

The $AUD/USD (AUDUSD.FX)$ is trading at US66.46¢, a decrease of 0.03%.

As of latest data, $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ is priced at $60,835, down by 1.39% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ is priced at $3,373, down by 0.25% in the past 24 hours.

Amidst a challenging retail landscape, $Baby Bunting Group Ltd (BBN.AU)$ remains optimistic, projecting a pro forma net profit ranging from $2 million to $4 million for the fiscal year 2024. Despite a rocky start to the year, the company reports a slight uptick in sales with same-store sales experiencing a marginal decline of 0.7 percent during the May 1 to June 24 period. The company's stock, however, has seen a significant downturn, with a 37 percent drop year-to-date. Nevertheless, shares recently witnessed a rebound, climbing 10 percent to $1.36.