Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 9,000 mark, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.10 points or 0.10 percent to 8,970.90, after hitting a low of 8,967.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 3.70 points or 0.04 percent to 9,237.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent and Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Santos and Origin Energy are flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero is adding almost 1 percent each, while Zip is advancing almost 5 percent, Appen is up more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Nextdc Ltd. are surging almost 17 percent after the data centre operator reported upbeat full-year results.

Shares in Harvey Norman are soaring almost 12 percent after reporting upbeat results, well above market expectations.

Shares in Austal are jumping almost 17 percent after it delivered a sharp turnaround in the 12 months to June 30, with net profit after tax jumping five-fold on stronger shipbuilding performance and a record order pipeline.

Shares in Boss Energy are jumping almost 13 percent after reporting its first full-year production results from the Honeymoon and Alta Mesa uranium operations, generating $17.4 million in positive operating cashflow for the 2024-25 financial year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages added to the gains posted in the two previous sessions, with the S&P 500 reaching another new record closing high.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq climbed 115.02 points or 0.5 percent to 21,705.16, the S&P 500 rose 20.46 points or 0.3 percent to 6,501.86 and the Dow edged up 71.67 points or 0.2 percent to 45,636.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday following a drop in U.S. crude inventories a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.42 or 0.65 percent at $64.57 per barrel.