Australian Market Tumbles

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by technology, materials and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 135.00 points or 1.93 percent to 6,851.80, after hitting a low of 6,836.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 135.00 points or 1.87 percent to 7,091.10. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent, OZ Minerals is losing almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is slipping more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 2 percent. BHP Group is sliding more than 7 percent as it trades ex-dividend.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos is losing more than 2 percent, Beach energy is declining more than 4 percent, Origin Energy is down almost 3 percent and Woodside Energy is slipping more that 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent, Xero is down more than 2 percent, Appen is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is sliding almost 4 percent, while WiseTech Global is slipping more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is declining more than 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is sliding more than 5 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 53.8. That's down from 55.7 in July, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.682 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the notable downward move seen in the past few sessions. The major averages showed a lack of direction early in the session but eventually slid firmly into negative territory.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid 280.44 points or 0.9 percent to 31,510.43, the Nasdaq fell 66.93 points or 0.6 percent to 11,816.20 and the S&P 500 dropped 31.16 points or 0.8 percent to 3,955.00.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices saw further downside on Wednesday, extending recent losses on concerns about the outlook for the global economy after the Eurozone's record high inflation report. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery tumbled $2.09 or 2.3 percent to $89.55 a barrel.