Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to a tad near the 8,100 level, with weakness in energy, technology s and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 35.90 points or 0.44 percent to 8,105.20, after hitting a low of 8,090.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 30.10 points or 0.36 percent to 8,333.00. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining almost 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent and BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining more than 4 percent and Santos is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

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

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining more than 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding almost 2 percent, while Newmont and Evolution Mining are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australia's trade surplus on goods increased to A$5.62 billion in January 2025, up from a downwardly revised A$ 4.92 billion in November, slightly higher than market expectations of a gain of A$5.50 billion.

Preliminary data showed that the seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved in Australia increased by 6.3 percent on month to 16,579 units in January 2025, sharply accelerating from an upwardly revised 1.7 percent growth in December 2024.

Meanwhile, private house approvals in Australia rose by 1.1 percent on month to 9,042 units in January 2025, following a downwardly revised 2.8 percent decline in December, preliminary data showed.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.633 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, recovering from early weakness to end the day sharply higher. With the rebound, the major averages regained some ground after moving substantially lower over the past several sessions.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 267.57 points or 1.5 percent to 18,552.73, the S&P 500 shot up 64.48 points or 1.1 percent to 5,842.63 and the Dow jumped 485.60 points or 1.1 percent to 43,006.59.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index spiked by 3.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.6 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices settled sharply lower on Wednesday on concerns about global economic growth in the wake of new tariffs by U.S. on several countries, and data showing an unexpected jump in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.95 or about 2.86 percent at $66.31 a barrel, the lowest settlement in about six months.