Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by strong losses in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 69.60 points or 0.95 percent to 7,245.30, after hitting a low of 7,243.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 72.80 points or 0.97 percent to 7,432.80. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent and Beach energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent, Appen is declining more than 2 percent, Xero is down almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping 2.5 percent, while Zip is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are all losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is losing almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent and Evolution Mining is slipping more than 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is plunging more than 8 percent after it slashed annual production outlook for the Gruyere mine. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stock saw further downside during trading on Wednesday after moving mostly lower over the two previous sessions. The major averages all finished the day in negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the slide.

The Nasdaq tumbled 165.10 or 1.2 percent to 13,502.20, continuing to give back ground after ending last Thursday's trading at its best closing level in over a year. The S&P 500 also fell 23.02 points or 0.5 percent to 4,365.69, while the Dow dipped 102.35 points or 0.3 percent to 33,951.52.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday amid hopes about the outlook for demand in the U.S. and forecasts for a drawdown in U.S. crude stocks last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.34 at $72.53 a barrel, recovering from a low of $70.80.