Australian shares fell on Thursday, weighed down by energy and financial stocks, as talks on a new U.S. fiscal coronavirus aid package dragged on, raising fears of a delayed deal. The S&P/ASX 200 index.AXJO fell 1.5% in intraday trade before miners helped it recoup some of the losses to settle 0.3% lower at 6,173.80, its lowest close since Oct. 12.

Overnight, Wall Street’s three major averages closed lower, after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of being unwilling to craft an acceptable compromise on stimulus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also expressed doubts over the passage of a deal before the presidential election.

Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking. Said that “I’m very doubtful that we will get any stimulus agreement being this so close to the election… It has the potential to put either party at a disadvantage if they were to agree with something now.”

Australian energy stocks.AXEJ closed 1.9% lower as oil prices extended losses after a build in U.S. inventories pointed to a deteriorating outlook for fuel demand.

Initial jobless claims are predicted to drop to 860,000 in the week of October 16 following a jump to 898,000 in the prior week. Unemployment claims have lost their pandemic prediction panache. Gone are the weeks of April and May when markets would wait breathlessly on the 8:30 am release for the latest on the sinking depths of the US economy. Even though the exceedingly slow improvement and occasional reversals in claims have been the major disappointment of the recovery.

AUD/USD 4 Hour Chart:

Support: 0.7060 (S1), 0.7004 (S2), 0.6966 (S3).

Resistance: 0.7154 (R1), 0.7192 (R2), 0.7248 (R3).

Amidst all the catalysts making the investors to loose confidence, we expect a mixed trend for AUD/USD.