Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,700 level, with weakness in mining, energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.60 points or 0.46 percent to 8,662.40, after hitting a low of 8,656.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.30 points or 0.53 percent to 8,849.70. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent, BHP Group is declining almost 1 percent, Fortescue is edging down 0.5 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent and Zip is adding more than 1 percent. Xero is losing more than 3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are declining more than 2 percent each.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Newmont is down more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.3 percent. Resolute Mining is edging up 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in Meeka Metals are tumbling almost 26 percent after announcing it raised $40 million fresh equity, which will enable the gold developer to pay a $10 million deferred payment due for an April acqusition.

Shares in Healius Ltd. are jumping almost 10 percent after announcing the sale of Agilex Biolabs to Novotech for $160 million.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.701 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable recovery attempt over the course of the trading day on Thursday after showing a significant move to the downside early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closing roughly flat.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 3.34 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 26,939.37, while the S&P 500 edged down 1.90 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,704.13. The narrower Dow climbed well off its worst levels but still closed down 161.61 points or 0.3 percent at 51,349.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices could not hold an early spike on Thursday but still managed to finish significantly higher, thanks to a lack of clarity about peace talks in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $2.58 or 2.8 percent to finish at $94.74 a barrel.