Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,800 level, with weakness in energy, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.50 points or 0.45 percent to 8,791.90, after hitting a low of 8,790.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 41.50 points or 0.46 percent to 9,060.50. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is declining almost 2 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are losing more than 1 percent each. Afterpay-owner Block is surging almost 8 percent on upbeat second-quarter results.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources, Newmont and Resolute Mining are advancing more than 2 percent each. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Nick Scali are surging almost 9 percent after the furniture retailer's Australia and New Zealand business saw second-half sales orders rise with a 65 percent gross margin.

Shares in Iress are soaring more than 11 percent after its board confirmed the company considered a takeover approach from New York-based private equity giant Blackstone.

Meanwhile, shares in GQG Partners are tumbling almost 14 percent after US$1.4 billion exited its funds in July, with US$1 billion of that tied to a single institutional client.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher early in the session but gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session before eventually ending the day mixed.

While tech-heavy Nasdaq added to Wednesday's strong gain, climbing 73.27 points or 0.4 percent to 21,242.70, the S&P 500 edged down 5.06 points or 0.1 percent to 6,340.00 and the Dow fell 224.48 points or 0.5 percent to 43,968.64.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday on inconsistency in the U.S. stance on Russia and its invasion on Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.49 or 0.76 percent at $63.86 per barrel.