Australian Market Extends Early Strong Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early strong losses in mid-market moves on Friday, adding to the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,700 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 110.70 points or 1.26 percent to 8,708.70, after hitting a low of 8,699.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 122.70 points or 1.36 percent to 8,885.60. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is declining more than 4 percent, BHP Group is tumbling almost 5 percent, Fortescue is losing more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is up almost 1 percent, Santos is adding more than 1 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is edging down 0.4 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent, Zip is sliding almost 5 percent, Appen is tumbling more than 5 percent and Xero is slipping more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding almost 2 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 5 percent and Newmont is losing more than 2 percent, while Resolute Mining, Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are tumbling more than 5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.716 on Friday.