Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Losing for the sixth straight session, the Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 78.30 points or 1.03 percent to 7,563.80, after hitting a low of 7,550.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 78.10 points or 0.99 percent to 7,820.80. Australian markets ended notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent, while BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each. Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Santos is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent, Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 3 percent and Xero is down almost 2 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is adding almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Karoon Energy are tumbling 6 percent after the Brazilian oil producer lowered its guidance for total production in financial 2024.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading session on Thursday after once again failing to sustain an early upward move. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ending the day in negative territory.

Reflecting weakness in the tech sector, the Nasdaq slid 81.87 points or 0.5 percent to 15,601.50, while the S&P 500 dipped 11.09 points or 0.2 percent to 5,011.12. The narrower Dow bucked the downtrend, inching up 22.07 points or 0.1 percent to 37,775.38.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices settled roughly flat on Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand and on recent data showing a jump in crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $82.73 a barrel, up $0.04 from the previous close.