Australian Market Trims Early Sharp Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trimming its early sharp losses in mid-market moves on Friday, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling 1.5 percent to below the 7,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by iron ore miners and technology stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 111.80 points or 1.45 percent to 7,597.80, after hitting a low of 7,524.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 110.40 points or 1.40 percent to 7,803.50. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 3 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is tumbling almost 6 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are losing more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is declining more than 4 percent and Woodside Energy is down more than 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent and Appen is declining more than 4 percent, while Zip and Xero are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is down almost 1 percent, Westpac is slipping 2.5 percent, National Australia Bank is declining more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is losing almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is surging more than 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 5 percent, Newmont is adding more than 4 percent and Resolute Mining is up almost 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.624 on Friday.