Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to nearly the 6,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness in financial and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.20 points or 0.55 percent to 6,518.80, after touching a high of 6,563.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.20 points or 0.65 percent to 6,716.40. Australian markets ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, OZ Minerals, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 2 percent and BHP Group is adding almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Santos is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are losing more than 4 percent each, while Xero is slipping almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent, Appen is sliding almost 5 percent and Zip are losing more than 2 percent. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are strong. Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is surging more than 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Evolution Mining is up 2.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Thursday after moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session. he major averages largely offset Wednesday's gains, with the S&P 500 once again falling to its lowest closing level since late 2020.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels going into the close but continued to post steep losses. The Dow slumped 458.13 points or 1.5 percent to 29,225.61, the Nasdaq plunged 314.13 points or 2.8 percent to 10,737.51 and the S&P 500 tumbled 78.57 points or 2.1 percent to 3,640.47.

The major European markets also all showed notable moves back to the downside. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing lower on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amidst a possible global recession. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid $0.92 or 1.1 percent to $81.23 per barrel.