Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 8,850 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners, energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 10.60 points or 0.12 percent to 8,817.70, after hitting a low of 8,804.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 16.70 points or 0.18 percent to 9,081.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining 2.5 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are down almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.4 percent, Woodside Energy is adding 1.5 percent and Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is tumbling more than 14 percent, Zip is losing more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent, while Appen and Xero are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent, National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining is surging more than 4 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals are edging up 0.3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Qantas-backed Alliance Aviation are plummeting almost 36 percent on resumption of trading after a voluntary suspension. The aviation services provider warned FY26 results would fall well short of analyst expectations due to higher aircraft, engine and maintenance costs. Founding managing director Scott McMillan stepped down from the board immediately, with chief financial officer Andrew Evans also resigning. The company noting the departures are unrelated to its outlook.

Shares in Macquarie Group are tumbling almost 7 percent after the investment bank reported downbeat half-yearly financial results.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw continued weakness throughout much of the trading day on Thursday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages more than offset the gains posted during Wednesday's session, falling to their lowest closing levels in two weeks.

The major averages moved to the downside going into close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq tumbled 445.80 points or 1.9 percent to 23,053.99, the S&P 500 slumped 75.97 points or 1.1 percent to 6,720.32 and the Dow slid 398.70 points or 0.8 percent to 46,912.30.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday on oversupply concerns after the American Petroleum Institute revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories increased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.21 or 0.35 percent at $59.39 per barrel.