Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,000 mark from recent all-time highs, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 81.90 points or 1.02 percent to 7,954.60, after hitting a low of 7,923.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 81.80 points or 0.99 percent to 8,190.90. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Santos is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 5 percent, Zip is losing almost 3 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are declining more than 1 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is declining almost 5 percent. Newmont and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are slipping more than 3 percent each. In other news, shares in Lifestyle Communities are plunging 15 percent after the land lease operator withdrew its guidance, blaming its decision on the media and uncertainty over its home-building business. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday before coming under considerable selling pressure over the course of the session. With the downward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added to the steep losses posted in the previous session.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 533.06 points or 1.3 percent to 40,665.02, the Nasdaq fell 125.70 points or 0.7 percent to 17,871.22 and the S&P 500 slid 43.68 points or 0.8 percent to 5,544.59.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices eased slightly on Thursday concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China, while the dollar's recovery weighed as well on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.03 at $82.82 a barrel.