Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses across most sectors, led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 59.60 points or 0.82 percent to 7,193.60, after hitting a low of 7,185.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 57.80 points or 0.78 percent to 7,395.30. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are lower. Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Zip is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.3 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are declining more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 2 percent. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.665 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks ended weak on Wednesday although those from the technology sector managed to briefly emerge higher around mid-morning. Lingering concerns about the impact of rising interest rates on economic growth weighed. The mood was cautious with investors focusing on the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

The major averages all ended modestly lower. The Dow ended with a loss of 129.83 points or 0.38 percent at 34,288.64. The S&P 500 settled at 4,446.82 with a loss of 8.77 points or 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq closed lower by 25.12 points or 0.18 percent at 13,791.65.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 1.03 percent, Germany's DAX ended 0.63 percent down and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.8 percent. The pan European Stoxx 600 lost 0.73 percent.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, buoyed by government data showing a significant jump in U.S. crude shipments last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.00 or 2.9 percent at $71.79 a barrel.