Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to be a tad above the 8,800 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 28.00 points or 0.32 percent to 8,802.40, after hitting a low of 8,797.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 27.30 points or 0.30 percent to 9,067.90. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent, Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing 2.5 percent, while BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Xero is edging down 0.3 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping almost 1 percent and Appen is declining almost 2 percent, while Zip are adding almost 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is surging almost 5 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent, Newmont is adding almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is climbing almost 6 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pulled back well off their best levels but still managed to end the day at new record closing highs.

The S&P 500 rose 19.43 points or 0.3 percent to 6,532.04 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,886.06, while the narrower Dow slid 220.42 points or 0.5 percent to 45,490.92.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.