Australian Market Notably Lower

The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Thursday after opening in the green, reversing the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,200 level, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 37.80 points or 0.46 percent to 8,161.70, after touching a high of 8,231.00 and a low of 8,150.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 39.50 points or 0.47 percent to 8,416.50. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is gaining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 7 percent, Xero is edging up 0.1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing more than 2 percent and Zip is down almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are declining almost 3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is sliding almost 7 percent, Gold Road Resources is plunging more than 8 percent, Resolute Mining is plummeting more than 10 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping more than 6 percent and Newmont is losing 3.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Quickstep Holdings are skyrocketing almost 99 percent after the aerospace manufacturer received a 40 cent per share takeover offer from one of its big customers, Asdam Operations.

Shares in Sigma Healthcare are soaring more than 28 percent after the Australian competition regulator gave the nod to the pharmaceutical wholesaler’s A$8.8 billion merger with Chemist Warehouse.

In economic news, the total number of building approvals issued in September was up a seasonally adjusted 4.4 percent on month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS said on Friday – coming in at 14,842. That was in line with expectations following the 3.9 percent drop in August. On a yearly basis, overall approvals climbed 6.8 percent.

The ABS also said Australia posted a merchandise trade surplus of A$4.609 billion in September. That missed forecasts for a surplus of A$5.240 billion and was down from A$5.284 billion in August. Exports were down 4.3 percent on month to A$40.827 billion after easing 0.2 percent in the previous month. Imports slumped 3.1 percent on month to A$36.219 billion after also slipping 0.2 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks skyrocketed during trading on Wednesday, as traders celebrated Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. The major averages added to the strong gains posted during Tuesday’s session, reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages saw further upside in late-day trading, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow soared 1,508.05 points or 3.6 percent to 43,729.93, the Nasdaq surged 544.29 points or 3.0 percent to 18,983.47 and the S&P 500 shot up 146.28 points or 2.5 percent to 5,929.04.

Meanwhile, the major European markets came under pressure over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose more than expected last week, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed down $0.30 or 0.42 percent at $71.69 a barrel.

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