Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is sharply lower 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 to near the 8,650 level, with weakness in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 115.20 points or 1.31 percent to 8,650.10, after hitting a low of 8,646.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 117.10 points or 1.31 percent to 8,839.10. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent, Appen is declining almost 5 percent and Zip is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent.

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

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.703 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks spent all of Wednesday under water, thanks to a rebound in crude oil prices that followed comments a day earlier from U.S. President Donald Trump. The major averages opened in the red on Wednesday and continued to trend lower throughout the session, ending at daily lows.

The Dow sank 352.10 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 51,511.59, while the NASDAQ dropped 308.24 points or 1.13 percent to close at 26,936.04 and the S&P 500 lost 58.61 points or 0.75 percent to end at 7,706.03.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index fell 31.50 points or 0.39 percent to 8,123.41, the German DAX Index sank 168.22 points or 0.66 percent to 25,410.63 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped 3.07 points or 0.03 percent to 10,705.26.

Crude oil prices snapped a five-day losing streak on Wednesday as prices climbed thanks to ongoing concerns about the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November delivery rose $1.90 or 2.1 percent to $92.40 a barrel.