Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Friday, extending the sharp losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,500 level, with weakness mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 26.90 points or 0.32 percent to 8,470.90, after hitting a low of 8,462.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 31.00 points or 0.36 percent to 8,659.70. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto are declining more than 3 percent, Fortescue is slipping almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent, Santos is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is advancing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is down more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Gold miners are weak. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is down more than 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 4 percent, while Genesis Minerals is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.708 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground in the latter part of the trading day on Thursday after seeing notable weakness throughout much of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remained in negative territory.

The Nasdaq ended the day down 61.73 points or 0.3 percent at 22,090.69 but had slumped by as much as 1.4 percent to a six-month intraday low. The S&P 500 also fell 18.21 points or 0.3 percent to 6,606.49, while the Dow slid 203.72 points or 0.4 percent to 46,021.43.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index plunged by 2.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 2.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 2.0 percent.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as traders dissected U.S. inventory data showing ample supply against production and supply disruption concerns due to the Middle East war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.14 per barrel.