Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trimming early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,950 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.00 points or 0.05 percent to 8,956.50, after hitting a low of 8,948.20 and a high of 8,974.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.20 points or 0.13 percent to 9,218.90. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down more than 1 percent, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 4 percent, while Fortescue is gaining 1.5 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 5 percent, Woodside Energy is declining more than 3 percent and Santos is down almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent and Appen is losing almost 4 percent, while Zip is gaining almost 1 percent and Xero is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing almost 2 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent. Gold Road Resources and Newmont are flat.

In other news, shares in IDP Education are soaring almost 32 percent as its full-year results were better than expected, despite posting a 14 percent drop in revenue as a crackdown on international students weighed on placement and testing volumes.

Shares in Eagers Automotive are jumping almost 14 per cent after the car dealership group grew half-year net profit by 2.3 percent as it made outsized gains in the electric vehicle and hybrid market.

Shares in Qantas are surging almost 9 percent after reporting a $2.39 billion record profit for the full year, up $316 million for a year ago. It also declared a special dividend.

Shares in Ramsay Healthcare are diving almost 12 percent after solid earnings for its Australian and UK operations was offset by challenges at its British mental health service business Elysium and its European hospitals business.

Shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals are tumbling almost 19 percent after the FDA identified deficiencies in the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) package for its Zircaix product undergoing testing.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Thursday.