Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,150 level, with weakness in mining stock partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 66.30 points or 0.72 percent to 9,122.20, after hitting a low of 9,118.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 63.90 points or 0.68 percent to 9,317.50. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is slipping more than 2 percent and BHP Group is declining almost 4 percent, while Fortescue and Mineral Resources are losing almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is surging almost 6 percent and Appen is advancing almost 4 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 4 percent each. Zip is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources, Genesis Minerals and Newmont are down more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Baby Bunting are soaring more than 22 percent after the retailer posted upbeat results for the full year, and improved outlook for the next financial year.

Shares in Ainsworth Game Technology are surging more than 6 percent after announcing a new patent licence deal with Aristocrat Leisure to settle potential claims and securing future access to key game features.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.706 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the moderate gains posted in the previous sessions. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 214.54 points or 0.8 percent to a two-month closing high of 26,803.03. The S&P 500 also climbed 50.49 points or 0.7 percent to 7,798.99, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, inching up 69.72 points or 0.1 percent to 53,839.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday following reports from energy agencies indicating that global oil demand is set to fall more heavily than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.76 or 2.11 percent at $81.51 per barrel.