Australian Market Marginally Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is marginally lower on Friday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,000 mark, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness in gold miners even as markets are pressured by the banking crisis in the U.S. and Europe.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.90 points or 0.10 percent to 6,958.60, after hitting a low of 6,957.20 and a high of 6,993.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 2.20 points or 0.03 percent to 7,150.50. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each. OZ Minerals is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 1.5 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.1 percent. WiseTech Global and Zip are flat. Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is declining almost 5 percent and Evolution Mining sliding more than 5 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered from early weakness and moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.

While the Nasdaq spiked 283.22 points or 2.5 percent to 11,717.28, closing higher for the fourth straight session, the S&P 500 surged 68.35 points or 1.8 percent to 3,960.28 and the Dow jumped 371.98 points or 1.2 percent to 32,246.55.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.0 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday on reports that Saudi Arabia's energy minister and Russia's deputy prime minister met to discuss about ways to enhance market stability. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.74 or 1.1 percent at $68.35 a barrel.