Australian shares were flat with a positive bias on Thursday's close as investors continued to recover from South Korea's political chaos.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index changed little to close at 8,474.9.

Even with a tense political situation in South Korea, Asian investors drew some comfort as the country said it will activate 40 trillion won worth of market stabilization fund, Reuters reported.

US markets scored record closing highs as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted investor optimism by saying that the economy is in "remarkably" good shape, Reuters said in a separate article.

In domestic news, Australian household finances are "not as weak as previously indicated by the data," said ANZ Research in a note. The household savings ratio jumped to 3.2% in the third quarter from an upwardly revised 2.4% in the second quarter.

Australia's goods deficit widened to AU$5.95 billion in October from AU$4.53 billion in September, data from the country's statistics bureau showed.

In corporate news, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) shareholder, Palliser Capital, is urging the mining firm to unify its dual-listing structure into a company listed solely on the Australian bourse, a letter from the investment firm to the board showed. Shares rose almost 1% at market close.

HMC Capital (ASX:HMC) agreed to acquire Neoen's renewable generation and storage portfolio in Victoria, including four operational assets and six development assets, for AU$950 million. Shares rose almost 2% at market close.

Hearts and Minds Investments (ASX:HM1) named Brett Jollie chief executive, effective Feb. 19, 2025, succeeding Paul Rayson, who is set to retire from the role, according to a filing with the Australian bourse. Shares rose nearly 3% at market close and earlier in the day reaching their highest since February 2022.