The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, snapping the five session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders booked profits after the recent gains, a drop in crude oil prices and the continued escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The weakness is seen across all sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 120.10 points or 1.68 percent to 7,031.30, after hitting a low of 7,025.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 132.60 points or 1.78 percent to 7,314.20. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is down almost 1 percent and OZ Minerals is declining more than 3 percent. Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent is flat.
Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy is losing more than 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is down almost 1 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are declining more than 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Appen is losing almost 4 percent, Xero is down more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent, Zip and Afterpay owner Block are plunging almost 9 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Westpac is slipping more than 2 percent, National Australia Bank is losing 1.5 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 2 percent. Commonwealth Bank is declining almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are lower. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are adding more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.
In economic news, the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday – coming in at A$32.491 billion. That follows the 4.4 percent monthly drop in January. Total online retailing sales were A$3.893 billion in January. On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 6.4 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.730 on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed wild swings over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the volatility seen in recent sessions. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing in negative territory.
The major averages all ended the day in the red, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq tumbled 214.08 points or 1.6 percent to 13,537.94, the Dow fell 96.69 points or 0.3 percent to 33,794.66 and the S&P 500 slid 23.05 points or 0.5 percent to 4,363.49.
The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.8 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 2.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index plunged by 2.6 percent.
U.S. crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday, retreating from multi-year highs on speculation over a possible nuclear deal with Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down by 2.6 percent at $107.67 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Sharply Lower
2022-03-04 01:26:50
