Australian Market Sharply Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is sharply extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, snapping a three session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,000 mark, with weakness in gold miners partially offset by gains in financial stocks and a mixed performance across most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 65.70 points or 0.73 percent to 8,972.90, after hitting a low of 8,972.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 68.20 points or 0.74 percent to 9,131.50. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mineral Resources is surging more than 5 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.2 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent and Zip is slipping more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is surging more than 6 percent, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is soaring almost 10 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is gaining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont and Evolution Mining are down almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping more than 5 percent and Genesis Minerals is sliding almost 5 percent.

In other news, shares in Domino's Pizza are surging almost 12 percent after the fast food company's profit came in higher than expected, and reiterating that its underlying net profit is expected to come in as forecast.

Shares in IperionX are sliding almost 8 percent despite growing titanium production capacity and advancing its Titan-Atlas resources in the June quarter, bolstered by strong government and customer support.

In economic news, Australia's seasonally adjusted dwelling approvals rose 7.2 percent on month to a four-month high of 18,328 units in June 2026, defying market expectations of a 1 percent decline after a revised 1.6 percent fall in May, according to preliminary estimates.

Private house approvals in Australia rose 0.4 percent on month to 10,631 units in June 2026, according to preliminary estimates, easing from a downwardly revised 2.4 percent increase in the previous month. This marked the second consecutive monthly gain. On an annual basis, private house approvals climbed 15.8 percent, accelerating from a 13.3 percent increase in the previous month and marking the strongest annual growth since September 2024.

Meanwhile, Australia's export prices climbed 1.1 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, after a 0.5 percent rise in the previous quarter. It was the third consecutive quarterly increase. Through the year to the second quarter, export prices rose 3.9 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.696 on Thursday.