Half of the money will be distributed via a special dividend expected to be paid in January 2019, while the remaining $US5.2 billion will be devoted to an off-market buyback.

The diversified mining giant led the materials sector gains on Thursday. Rio Tinto closed the session 2.1 per cent higher at $78.00 and Fortescue Metals Group advanced 2.8 per cent to $4.11.

Orocobre shares advanced 11.7 per cent to $3.72 after Argentina's national mining secretary Carolina Sanchez said there was no evidence mining investors had been deterred by a decision to impose a temporary levy on shipments of lithium by existing producers until 2020.

NAB shares rose 0.6 per cent to $25.3. The bank announced its full-year cash profit fell 14.2 per cent to $5.702 billion, which was in line with expectations.

The other major banks closed the session lower. Commonwealth Bank fell 0.4 per cent to $68.94, Westpac slid 0.7 per cent to $26.67 and ANZ closed 0.3 per cent lower at $25.85.

AMP shares rose 6.9 per cent to $2.64 on Thursday, extending its 6.9 per cent rebound on Wednesday.

According to a report in The Australian, Macquarie Group is crunching the numbers on a potential takeover of the embattled financial services company.

Woolworths rose 1 per cent to $28.70 despite the supermarket announcing its slowest like-for-like food sales growth in two years. The company was impacted by Coles' free miniature plastic groceries and free reusable plastic bags.

Same-store sales did rise 1.8 per cent during the three monts ending September, however it was a significant slowdown from 3.1 per cent growth in the June quarter. Rival Wesfarmers shares fell 1.9 per cent to $45.75.

Star Entertainment rose following the company's AGM on Thursday where managing director and CEO Matt Bekie told shareholder's the group's domestic revenue from July 1 to October 21 was up 6.7 per cent on the prior comparable period. The group's shares rose 1.7 per cent to $4.82.

Ausdrill shares fell 9.9 per cent to $1.55 after the miner announced it had completed the acquisition of underground hard-rock mining contractor Barminco.

The company also reiterated its previous 2019 financial year earnings guidance of 20 to 30 per cent underlying profit growth, before taking into account the Barminco acquisition.

Stock watch

Corporate Travel Management

Despite Corporate Travel Management responding to a recent negative report by VGI, Bell Potter still believes there will be a destabilising effect on the company's share price in the near term and has dropped its price target by 24.6 per cent in response. In a note on Wednesday, the broker noted the recent prominent short campaigns by Glaucus on Blue Sky and Quintis, saying that it expected VGI's report to have a similar effect on Corporate Travel's shares. At its AGM, the company did deliver an upbeat trading update, saying it expected EBITDA of $150 million to be at the top end of its guidance range. While the broker said the short report was unlikely to materially impact from an operational or client activity perspective, there was near-term risk for the company. Bell Potter downgraded its target price on the company from $28.90 to $21.80.

What moved the market

Commodity prices

Commodity prices were mixed through October although demand concerns were escalated through the month on the back of falling global equity markets and continued trade tensions. Iron ore had a strong month, encouraged by rising steel prices while coking coal prices and gold were also higher. Copper, nickel and aluminium all closed the month lower too while thermal coal also had a bad month. Oil prices took the biggest hit this month however, as Saudi Arabia promised it would not reduce its production in response to geopolitical tensions surrounding the death of Jamal Khashoggi. US shale production rose.

Nickel

The price of nickel slipped 2.3 per cent on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday down to $US11,426, a fresh 10-month low for the metal. Russian producer Norilsk Nickel, one of the world's largest nickel producers, said its consolidated nickel production rose 9 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 53,739 during the three months ending September. Growth concerns in China, who represents a fifth of the world's total nickel imports, also weighed on the metal's price. China's official manufacturing PMI fell from 50.8 in September to 50.2 in October, below forecasts of 50.6.

Indian rupee

The Indian rupee soared during early trade on Thursday, after falling 1.3 per cent since the start of the week. India's government and central bank have been at loggerheads in recent days with Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel pushing for more powers to clean up the banking system while the government has indicated it its looking at a never-before-used legal provision that could allow the state to override the central bank's decision-making. The move comes at a crucial time for the country, who's currency is down almost 14 per cent year-to-date, as it prepares for a general election in the first half of 2019.

Trade balance

Australia's trade balance for September rose to $3.02 billion, up from an adjusted (previously $1.6 billion) during August and smashing market expectations of a $1.7 billion surplus. "Even though the trade surplus jumped from an upward-revised $2.3b in August to $3.0b in September, we estimate that net trade lowered Q3 GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points," said Capital Economics senior economist Marcel Thieliant. "But we still think that the weaker exchange rate will start to boost net trade next year." The Aussie dollar jumped on the back of the result, lifting from US70.82¢ to US71.31¢ following the data release.