Australian Market Modestly Lower

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with weakness is heavyweight mining stocks and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 17.80 points or 0.25 percent to 7,153.20, after hitting a low of 7,146.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 18.60 points or 0.25 percent to 7,356.30. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping 2.5 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are declining almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent, Beach energy is declining more than 2 percent and Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.1 percent, while Appen is edging up 0.3 percent and Zip is adding almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is up almost 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are adding more than 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.637 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure in early trading on Thursday but regained some ground over the course of the session. The major averages all climbed well off their lows of the session, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq continued to post a notable loss.

The Nasdaq slumped 123.64 points or 0.9 percent to 13,748.83 and the S&P 500 fell 14.34 points or 0.3 percent to 4,451.14. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow climbed into positive territory and ended the day up 57.54 points or 0.2 percent at 34,500.73.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Profit taking after recent strong gains was largely responsible as West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.67 or 0.9 percent at $86.87 a barrel.

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