Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 71.90 points or 0.83 percent to 8,581.40, after hitting a low of 8,555.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 80.70 points or 0.91 percent to 8,776.30. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is slipping more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are advancing almost 3 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is slipping 2.5 percent and Xero is down more than 2 percent, while Zip and WiseTech Global are losing almost 2 percent each. Appen is flat

Among the big four banks, Westpac, ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are all losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 4 percent, Newmont is tumbling almost 5 percent, Genesis Minerals is slipping almost 6 percent and Resolute Mining is sliding more than 5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.700 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Wednesday but came under considerable selling pressure over the course of the trading day. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow tumbled 953.33 points or 1.9 percent to 49,918.78, the Nasdaq plunged 509.32 points or 2 percent to 25,169.50 and the S&P 500 slumped 119.66 points or 1.6 percent to 7,266.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent.

Crude oil prices surged Wednesday on concerns about the gulf conflict intensifying further after the U.S. and Iran resumed attacks, keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $2.26 or 2.56 percent at $90.46 per barrel.