Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, and adding the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,100 level, with weakness in energy, technology s and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 55.60 points or 0.68 percent to 8,085.50, after hitting a low of 8,084.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 45.80 points or 0.55 percent to 8,317.30. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining almost 5 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is down almost 2 percent and BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining more than 5 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are losing more than 2 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining 4.5 percent, while Zip and Xero are edging down 0.5 percent each. WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is surging almost 7 percent and Gold Road Resources, Newmont and Evolution Mining are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australia's trade surplus on goods increased to A$5.62 billion in January 2025, up from a downwardly revised A$ 4.92 billion in November, slightly higher than market expectations of a gain of A$5.50 billion.

Preliminary data showed that the seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved in Australia increased by 6.3 percent on month to 16,579 units in January 2025, sharply accelerating from an upwardly revised 1.7 percent growth in December 2024.

Meanwhile, private house approvals in Australia rose by 1.1 percent on month to 9,042 units in January 2025, following a downwardly revised 2.8 percent decline in December, preliminary data showed.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.634 on Thursday.