Australian shares closed lower for a second consecutive session on Thursday, with the ASX 200 shedding 21 points, or 0.2%, to 9,188 as communications, logistics and manufacturing stocks weighed on sentiment. Investors remained cautious after Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said restrictive monetary settings are still needed to bring inflation under control, while signals from China that policymakers were not preparing broad easing added to the risk-off tone. Insurance Australia Group fell 5.1% after weaker cash earnings, hurt by lower investment income and higher severe weather claims. Commonwealth Bank dropped 2.2%, while ANZ rose 4.5% following a modest profit increase. Miners were broadly weaker, with Rio Tinto down 3.6% and South32 off 0.6%. ASX Ltd climbed 9% after reporting annual underlying profit growth of more than 5%, helped by stronger trading and post-trade activity during a period of elevated global market volatility.