Australian Market Modestly Lower

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses of the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street as inflation concerns prompted a sell-off. The market is primarily weighed down by weakness in technology stocks which followed their peers on Nasdaq.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.70 points or 0.44 percent to 7,014.20, after hitting a low of 7,000.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 38.70 points or 0.53 percent to 7,242.40. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices rose overnight. Oil Search and Santos are edging up about 0.5 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum and Beach Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among Tech stocks, Appen is losing almost 4 percent, Afterpay is down almost 6 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent.

Shares in Xero are plunging almost 10 percent after the accounting platform reported that revenue by 18 percent to NZ$848.8 million from last year after reaching record subscriber numbers of 2.74 million. It also reported a profit of NZ$19.8 million for the year, up from $3.3 million the previous year.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is flat, ANZ Banking is losing more than 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent. National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.4 percent. Northern Star Resources is down almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is edging down 0.5 percent.

Shares in Perenti Global are plunging more than 24 percent after the mining services firm lowered its forecast for the second half of 2021, saying it now expects revenues and operating margins to be consistent with the first half. It also provided a softened outlook for fiscal 2022 as headwinds associated with COVID-19 and labour are expected to continue for the next 12 to 18 months.

Explosives maker Orica reported that net profit for the half-year to March 31 plunged 54 percent to $77 million and also slashed its interim dividend to 7.5 cents from 16.5 cents. The stock is down more than 2 percent.

Shares in Treasury Wine Estates are gaining almost 4 percent after the wine maker reported that 2021 earnings would be in the range of $495 million to $515 million, above market expectations. Over the long term, it was targeting high single-digit average earnings growth along with a group-wide earnings margin of 25 percent.

Shares in Graincorp’s are surging more than 6 percent after the agribusiness reported a 30.8 percent jump in total revenue to $2.56 billion for the first half. . Underlying profit from continuing operations was also up nearly 90 percent to $50.5 million, though this was down 87 percent on a statutory basis. The company also reinstated its dividend and will pay a fully franked interim dividend of 8 cents on July 22, its first interim payout in three years.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.774 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the pullback seen earlier in the week. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages ended the session at their lowest closing levels in over a month.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow tumbled 681.50 points or 2 percent to 33,587.66, the Nasdaq plummeted 357.75 points or 2.7 percent to 13,031.68 and the S&P 500 plunged 89.06 points or 2.1 percent to 4,063.04.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday on optimism about the outlook for energy demand and data showing a drop in crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.80 or 1.2 percent at $66.08 a barrel.

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