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 mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 162.00 points or 1.84 percent to 8,627.30, after hitting a low of 8,624.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is 162.40 points or 1.81 percent to 8,806.80. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are down more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging down 0.3 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent. Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are declining more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is losing more than 3 percent, Genesis Minerals is down almost 2 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Meteoric Resources are skyrocketing 53 percent after agreeing to be acquired by Lynas Rare Earths for $968 million. Lynas shares are down almost 5 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia fell into contraction territory in September, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6. That's down from 52.0 in August and it slips beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.695 on Thursday.