Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday, reversing some of the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,600 level, with weakness in gold miners and technology stocks as well as a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 27.20 points or 0.32 percent to 8,558.00, after hitting a low of 8,553.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.70 points or 0.39 percent to 8,839.50. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 2 percent, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent, while Fortescue is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is advancing almost 2 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.3 percent and Zip declining almost 3 percent, while Appen and Xero are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is down more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping 2.5 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Boss Energy are tumbling almost 28 percent after revealing that the Honeymoon project review deviates significantly from 2021 forecasts, affecting future production and costs due to less optimal mineralisation.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside in early trading on Wednesday but quickly came under pressure after ending yesterday's choppy session narrowly mixed. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and firmly into negative territory.

The major averages saw further downside going into the end of the day, closing just off their lows of the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 418.14 points or 1.8 percent to 22,693.32, the S&P 500 slumped 78.83 points or 1.2 percent to 6,721.43 and the Dow slid 228.29 points or 0.5 percent to 47,885.97.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.70 or 1.3 percent to end at $55.97 per barrel.