Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,100 level, with losses in mining stocks partially offset by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 22.00 points or 0.31 percent to 7,083.90, after hitting a low of 7,083.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 21.00 points or 0.29 percent to 7,295.70. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 percent each.

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

In the tech space, WiseTech Global and Appen are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent. Xero is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is declining almost 4 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent and Evolution Mining is losing 2.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are down almost 2 percent each.

In economic news, the jobless rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was in line with expectations and up from 3.6 percent in September. The Australian economy added 55,000 jobs last month, blowing away forecasts for an increase of 20,000 jobs following the addition of 6,700 jobs in the previous month. The participation rate improved to 67.0 percent, beating forecasts for 66.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from September.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Wednesday following the substantial rally seen in the previous session. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but managed to end the day modestly higher.

The Nasdaq inched up 9.45 points or 0.1 percent to a three-month closing high of 14,103.84, and the S&P 500 edged up 7.18 points or 0.2 percent to a two-month closing high of 4.502.88. The narrower Dow outperformed, climbing 163.51 points or 0.5 percent to 3,499.21, the blue chip index's best closing level in three months.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday after data showed a sharp increase in U.S. crude stockpiles and a big jump in crude production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December lost $1.60 or 2 percent at $76.66 a barrel, falling for the first time in five sessions.