Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Friday, adding the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,850 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks. Technology stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 95.50 points or 1.07 percent to 8,815.60, after hitting a low of 8,812.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 93.90 points or 1.03 percent to 9,032.90. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down more than 2 percent, Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent, BHP Group is losing more than 3 percent and Fortescue is slipping more than 1 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Zip is jumping almost 7 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent. Xero is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent and Westpac is declining more than 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is down almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 4 percent, Genesis Minerals is declining more than 2 percent, Newmont is declining more than 4 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping more than 3 percent.

In other news, shares in SkyCity Entertainment are jumping almost 16 percent after it reached an agreement to pay $21 million for breaches of anti-money laundering and counterterrorism laws at its Adelaide casino.

Shares in IDP Education soaring more than 11 percent after it raised adjusted EBIT guidance for the full-year 2026.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.701 on Friday.