The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by weakness in materials, energy and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in financial stocks.
Materials and energy stocks were hit by lower commodity prices amid reports of China imposing fresh COVID-19 curbs just a few days after relaxing it, while technology stocks mirrored their peers on tech-heavy Nasdaq.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 70.10 points or 1.0 percent to 6,949.60, after hitting a low of 6,934.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 83.60 points or 1.16 percent to 7,156.80. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is declining almost 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is sliding more than 4 percent, while BHP Group, OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are slipping almost 3 percent each.
Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is down 1.5 percent and Woodside Energy is declining more than 2 percent.
Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 3 percent, Xero is edging down 0.5 percent, Afterpay owner Block is sliding more than 7 percent, Appen is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is slipping almost 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is adding almost 2 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are up more than 1 percent each.
Gold miners are lower. Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is sliding almost 5 percent and Newcrest Mining is down 1.5 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Thursday after initially showing a lack of direction. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages extended the downward move seen in the previous session.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 638.11 points or 1.9 percent to 32,272.79, the Nasdaq plunged 332.05 points or 2.8 percent to 11,754.23 and the S&P 500 dove 97.95 points or 2.4 percent to 4,017.82.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.7 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as demand concerns resurfaced following authorities in Shanghai imposing new Covid-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.60 or 0.5 percent at $121.51 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Significantly Lower
2022-06-10 01:31:32
