Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is sharply lower on Thursday, adding to the losses in in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,700 level, as traders react to hot inflation data that stoked fears the Reserve Bank of Australia could raise interest rates again as early as next month.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 98.00 points or 1.26 percent to 7,685.00, after hitting a low of 7,654.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 94.80 points or 1.18 percent to 7,928.10. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent, Beach energy is losing more than 2 percent, Santos is declining 1.5 percent each and Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is gaining almost 2 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.1 percent and Newmont is adding more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Baby Bunting are skyrocketing 16 percent after the retailer said it still expects pro forma net profit between $2 million and $4 million in financial 2024.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday after a somewhat sluggish session as investors made cautious moves while awaiting the release of personal consumption expenditures price index report, due on Friday. Data on first quarter GDP, durable goods orders for the month of May, and jobless claims report are also due this week.

The major averages all closed on the positive side. Technology stocks outperformed, lifting the Nasdaq by 87.50 points or 0.49 percent, to 17,805.16. The Dow ended up by 15.64 points or 0.04 percent at 39,127.80, while the S&P 500 settled at 5,477.60, gaining 8.60 points or 0.16 percent.

Meanwhile, tthe major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 settled lower by 0.27 percent, Germany's DAX edged down 0.12 percent, and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.69 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in crude inventories in the U.S. last week but recovered and eventually ended the day's session slightly higher. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rose $0.07 at $80.90 a barrel.