Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,700 level, with weakness in energy stocks and a mixed performance in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 44.30 points or 0.51 percent to 8,678.60, after hitting a low of 8,656.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.10 points or 0.53 percent to 8,884.30. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is declining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is declining almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Appen is adding almost 2 percent and Xero is advancing almost 4 percent, while Zip is losing almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is advancing almost 3 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont is gaining more than 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 4 percent and Genesis Minerals is rising more than 3 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging down 0.2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in VHM Ltd are skyrocketing 63 percent after the Junior ASX mining stock struck a long-term supply deal with rare earths miner Iluka Resources.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks were higher for much of Wednesday's trade but a late slump saw them finish under water. The weakness that emerged on Wall Street was the result of ongoing concerns that the AI companies and chipmakers may be overbought - which had the biggest effect on the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

The Dow dipped 13.96 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 52,305.24, coming off a record closing high. The NASDAQ sank 173.69 points or 0.66 percent to close at 26.040.03 and the S&) 500 fell 16.13 points or 0.22 percent to end at 7,483.23.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. The UK's FTSE 100 drifted down 0.18 percent and France's CAC 40 closed 0.79 percent down, while Germany's DAX moved up 0.18 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled again on Wednesday amid gradual recovery in tanker traffic across the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $1.12 or 1.61 percent at $68.38 per barrel.