Australian Market Modestly Lower

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as some gains in technology and financial stocks were more than offset by losses in energy and mining stocks amid weaker commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 23.60 points or 0.33 percent to 7,145.80, after touching a high of 7,146.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 23.70 points or 0.32 percent to 7,351.10. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is flat. OZ Minerals is still in a trading halt as BHP is rumoured to float a sweetened offer for the company.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.1 percent and Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent and Appen is down more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent and Zip is surging almost 6 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is up 1.5 percent. Newcrest Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Webjet are surging more than 8 percent after the travel agency said it is on track to exceed pre-pandemic profitability in fiscal 2023.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, largely offsetting the upward move seen on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop, while the Dow spent much of the session lingering near the unchanged line.

After ending Tuesday’s trading at a nearly two-month closing high, the Nasdaq tumbled 174.52 points or 1.5 percent to 11,183.66, the S&P 500 also slumped 32.94 points or 0.8 percent to 3,958.79 and the narrower Dow edged down 39.09 points or 0.1 percent to 33,553.83.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and the resumption of Russian oil shipments to Hungary. Oil prices fell despite data showing a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $1.33 or 1.5 percent at $85.59 a barrel.

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