Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,100 level, with slight weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks. Some gold stocks were gaining.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.70 points or 0.08 percent to 8,119.50, after hitting a low of 8,109.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 1.60 points or 0.02 percent to 8,339.40. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.5 percent and Appen is losing almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is advancing more than 2 percent, Zip is gaining more than 1 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources, Newmont and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.641 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant recovery over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after pulling back sharply early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day before eventually closing mixed.

The major averages showed a strong move to the upside going into the close of trading. While the Nasdaq still ended the day down 14.98 points or 0.1 percent at 17,446.34, the S&P 500 rose 8.21 points or 0.2 percent to 5,569.06 and the Dow climbed 141.74 points or 0.4 percent to 40,669.36.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved modestly lower on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices showed another significant move to the downside on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery plunged $2.20 or 3.6 percent to $58.22 a barrel. For the month of April, crude for June delivery nosedived by 18 percent.