Australian Market Loses

The Australian stock market is losing on Friday, tracking the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and lower commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 13.70 points or 0.20 percent to 6,836.40, after falling to a low of 6833.90. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.17 percent to 7,109.70. Australian stocks closed little changed on Thursday.

Oil stocks are lower as crude oil prices declined overnight after eight consecutive days of gains. Oil Search is losing more than 2 percent, Santos is lower by almost 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is declining 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are also weak as gold prices fell after four straight days of gains. Evolution Mining is declining more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is down 0.2 percent.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is lower by 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is adding 0.4 percent.

The big four banks are mixed. Commonwealth Bank is adding 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking is up 0.2 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are down 0.1 percent each.

Mirvac Group reported a 35 percent fall in profit for the first half of the year and declared a lower interim dividend compared to the prior-year period. The property developer’s shares are losing more than 2 percent.

CSL said the manufacture of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Australia will reach the final stages next week and the first doses will be released at the end of March after regulatory approval. The biotechnology company’s shares are up 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Thursday in choppy trading as buying interest was somewhat subdued following recent strength. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs. Optimism about additional stimulus continued to support the markets along with largely upbeat earnings news, a slowdown in the rate of coronavirus infections and accelerated vaccine rollouts.

The Dow edged down 7.10 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 31,430.70, while the Nasdaq climbed 53.24 points or 0.4 percent to 14,025.77 and the S&P 500 rose 6.50 points or 0.2 percent to 3,916.38.

The major European markets closed mostly higher on Thursday. While the German DAX Index also advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed marginally lower.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday, taking a breather after eight straight days of gains. Crude for May delivery fell $0.44 or about 0.8 percent to $58.24 a barrel.

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