The Australian stock market is plummeting on Thursday, giving up all gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying a tad above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, amid escalation the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Australia also joined Europe, the U.S. and U.K. with a first tranche of sanctions on Russia. Technology stocks are seeing a sell-off in particular.
Though traders also remain concerned about the scale of new domestic coronavirus infections, it has somewhat eased off with some states have now moved to essentially no COVID related restrictions and no masks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is plunging 205.50 points or 2.85 percent to the day’s low of 7,000.20. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 208.40 points or 2.79 percent to 7,265.50. Australian markets ended notably higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is plunging more than 6 percent. OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are declining more than 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 3 percent each.
Oil stocks are lower. Santos is losing more than 2 percent, Origin Energy is slipping almost 2 percent, Beach Energy is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is declining almost 5 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are down more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 3 percent and National Australia Bank is declining almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Appen is plummeting more than 24 percent, Block is plunging more than 10 percent, Zip is losing more than 8 percent, Xero is declining almost 5 percent and WiseTech Global is down more than 6 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Newcrest Mining, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Qantas are losing almost 3 percent after posting a wider first-half underlying loss before tax for the first half, hard-hit by domestic and international border closures. However, the airline said the outlook was improving as restrictions eased.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.721 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the sell-off seen over the three previous sessions. The major averages moved to the upside early in the session but showed a substantial downturn as the day progressed.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow plunged 464.85 points or 1.4 percent to 33,131.76, the Nasdaq dove 344.03 points or 2.6 percent to 13,037.49 and the S&P 500 plummeted 79.26 points or 1.8 percent to 4,225.50.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices settled modestly higher on Wednesday, with investors weighing the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on oil supplies, the likelihood of Iranian crude to the market, and the latest data on U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.19 or about 0.2 percent at $92.10 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Sharply Lower; Down 2.9%
2022-02-24 01:36:54
