Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 6,800 level, despite the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with weakness in materials and energy stocks partially offset by strength in gold miners, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.40 points or 0.08 percent to 6,788.90, after hitting a low of 6,758.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 9.00 points or 0.13 percent to 7,009.40. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent, BHP Group is down almost 1 percent, OZ Minerals is edging up 0.5 percent, Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is slipping 2.5 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are declining almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent, Zip is adding 3.5 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent. Xero is flat. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is up almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

Gold miners are higher. Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is surging almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is adding 1.5 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global said on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 55.7. That's down from 56.2 in June, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell to 50.4 in July from 52.6 in June, while the composite PMI slipped to 50.6 from 52.6 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility over the course of the trading session on Thursday but managed to end the day notably higher. The major averages extended a recent upward trend, reaching their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow climbed 162.06 points or 0.5 percent to 32,036.90, the Nasdaq surged 161.96 points or 1.4 percent to 12,059.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 39.05 points or 1 percent to 3,998.95.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand in the near term due to slowing economic growth and rising interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $3.53 or 3.5 percent at $96.35 a barrel.