Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,100 level, dragged by weakness across most sectors, led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 41.50 points or 0.59 percent to 7,045.80, after hitting a low of 7,041.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 40.50 points or 0.56 percent to 7,257.20. Australian markets ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Xero is declining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent and Zip is slipping 2.5 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in November, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.7. That's down from 48.2 in October and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks indexes once again moved in opposite directions during trading on Thursday after ending the previous session narrowly mixed. While the Dow moved sharply higher to reach its best closing level in well over a year, the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the day in the red.

The Dow jumped 520.47 points or 1.5 percent to 35,950.89 and the S&P 500 rose 17.22 points or 0.4 percent to a three-month closing high of 4,567.80. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq climbed well off its worst levels of the day but still closed down 32.27 points or 0.2 percent to 14,226.22.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index increased by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday despite an announcement from OPEC that members have agreed to voluntarily output cuts for the first quarter of 2024. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.90 or 2.4 percent at $75.96 a barrel.