Australian Market Sharply Lower; Down 2%

(RTTNews) - Giving up the gains the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling 2 percent to well below the 8,000 mark from recent all-time highs, with weakness across most sectors led by mining, energy and financial stocks after release of weak economic data from the U.S., Europe and China. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 158.80 points or 1.96 percent to 7,955.90, after hitting a low of 7,935.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 160.40 points or 1.92 percent to 8,183.40. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are declining almost 2 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is declining more than 2 percent, Beach energy is slipping more than 4 percent and Santos is down almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging almost 8 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, while Zip is losing more than 4 percent, Xero is down almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 3 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 3 percent and ANZ Banking is down more than 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent. Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent and Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the coursed the trading day on Thursday after extending yesterday's rally early in the session. The major averages all showed substantial moves to the downside.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 405.25 points or 2.3 percent to 17,194.15, the S&P 500 tumbled 75.62 points or 1.4 percent to 5,446.68 and the Dow slumped 494.82 points or 1,2 percent to 40,347,97

The major European markets also moved sharply lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index dove be by 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Thursday on concerns about disappointing economic data and the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.60 or about 2.05 percent at $76.31 a barrel.