Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,650 level, with weakness across all sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 128.90 points or 1.47 percent to 8,624.50, after hitting a low of 8,612.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 138.90 points or 1.54 percent to 8,895.60. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is tumbling almost 6 percent, Zip is sliding more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent, Appen is down 1.5 percent and Xero is slipping more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is declining almost 4 percent and Westpac is down almost 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing 1.5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining and Newmont are declining more than 3 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is down 2.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping more than 4 percent and Evolution Mining is tumbling almost 4 percent.

In other news, shares in TPG Telecom are plummeting almost 30 percent as its shares are going ex-dividend for a major capital return.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw even further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside after closing mixed for two consecutive sessions.

The major averages ended the just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plummeted 536.10 points or 2.3 percent to 22,870.36, the S&P 500 plunged 113.43 points or 1.7 percent to 6,737.49 and the Dow tumbled 797.60 points or 1.7 percent to 47,457.22.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Thursday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has renewed confidence in consumption and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.22 or 0.38 percent at $58.71 per barrel.