Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 80.70 points or 1.03 percent to 7,767.40, after hitting a low of 7,766.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 77.80 points or 0.96 percent to 8,040.50. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are declining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is down 1.5 percent. BHP Group is losing almost 3 percent after Anglo American rejected the miner's third offer and gave it a week to come up with an improved fourth bid.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is slipping 4.5 percent and Zip is losing more than 3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are flat. Xero is surging more than 7 percent after reporting a surge in full-year revenues and issuing upbeat outlook for fiscal 2025.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are declining more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is declining more than 2 percent, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources are down more than 3 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Nufarm are slipping 6.5 percent after the agricultural tech business reported shrinking profits and falling revenue for the half-year.

Shares in The Reject Shop are declining more than 5 percent after the discount retailer warned of a steep drop in earnings, despite the recent improvement in sales at its stores.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in May, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6. That's unchanged from the April reading, and it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also said the services PMI eased to 53.1 in May from 53.6 in April. The composite PMI fell to 52.6 in May from 53.0 in April.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Wednesday before coming under pressure following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but ended the day in the red after ending Tuesday's choppy trading session modestly higher. The Dow slid 201.95 points or 0.5 percent to 39,671.04, the S&P 500 fell 14.40 points or 0.3 percent to 5,307.01 and the Nasdaq dipped 31.08 points or 0.2 percent at 16,801.54.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to a two-month low on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected rebound in crude oil inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.57 a barrel.