Australian Market Lower

Australian stock market is lower on Friday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark near 14-month highs, as gold miners, energy, healthcare and banking stocks are weighing down the market. However, the cues overnight from Wall Street were positive.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 46.00 points or 0.65 percent to 7,036.30, after hitting a low of 7,028.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.90 points or 0.61 percent to 7,301.10. Australian markets ended marginally higher on Thursday.

The major miners are lower. Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are down more than 1 percent each.

Among oil stocks, Woodside Petroleum is declining almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.2 percent, while Oil Search is gaining almost 1 percent. Beach energy is plunging almost 23 percent after it downgrading guidance.

Santos announced the completion of the sell down of its 25 percent stake in Bayu-Undan and Darwin LNG to South Korean firm SK E&S and received net funds of US$186 million on completion.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Appen are losing more than 1 percent each, while Xero is gaining almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

Healthcare stocks are lower, with CSL down almost 1 percent, Fisher and Paykel losing almost 3 percent and ResMed lower by almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.6 percent.

Gold miners are lower after gold declined overnight. Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are declining almost 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent.

Trading in Vitalharvest shares has been temporarily paused as the managed investment company is in the middle of a takeover tug of war between Sydney private equity firm Roc Partners and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.

Shares in Mesoblast are soaring more that 14 percent after the regenerative medicine company’s 60-day trial of its remestemcel-L drug showed the treatment reduced mortality in COVID patients under the age of 65.

Shares in Sezzle are gaining more than 8 percent after the financial technology unveiling of plans to launch an initial public offering in the U.S.

Shares in Japara are soaring almost 23 percent after the aged care operator confirmed it is mulling a non-binding takeover offer from not-for-profit healthcare organisation Calvary.

In economic news, private sector credit in Australia was up 0.4 percent on month in March, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday – after gaining 0.2 percent in February. On a yearly basis, private sector credit climbed 1.0 percent after rising 1.6 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.778 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed wild fluctuations over the course of the trading session on Thursday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move on the day, the S&P 500 ended the session at a new record closing high.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq edged up 31.52 points or 0.2 percent to 14,082.55, the Dow climbed 239.98 points or 0.7 percent to 34,060.36 and the S&P 500 advanced 28.29 points or 0.7 percent to 4,211.47.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand following a drop in U.S. petroleum product supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $1.15 or 1.8 percent at $65.01 a barrel.

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