Australian Market Treads Back In To The Red In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading in mid-market moves on Friday after opening in the red and briefly moving in to the green, snapping the three-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,500 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors. Energy stocks are the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.30 points or 0.06 percent to 8,515.40, after hitting a low of 8,498.70 and a high of 8,532.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 0.70 points or 0.01 percent to 8,784.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Beach energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent, Appen is adding more than 3 percent and Zip is edging up 0.2 percent

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

In other news, shares in Domino's Pizza are skyrocketing more than 22 percent after the company announced the closure of 205 loss-making stores, mostly in Japan.

Shares in Nick Scali are jumping more than 13 percent after the company posted net profit for the half-year to December that exceeded guidance.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Friday.