Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is slightly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,200 level, with losses in losses in energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices, partially offset by strong gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 10.20 points or 0.14 percent to 7,168.20, after hitting a low of 7,160.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.00 points or 0.11 percent to 7,378.70. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos, Woodside Energy and Beach energy are losing more than 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is declining 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global and are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Appen is surging more than 4 percent, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 4 percent. Xero is edging down 0.2 percent and Zip is skyrocketing 15.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.3 percent. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Perpetual are jumping almost 8 percent after the firm officially rejected a $3 billion buyout offer from investment conglomerate Washington H. Soul Pattinson to break up the funds business.

In economic news, the number of building approvals issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 7.5 percent on month in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS said on Thursday, standing at 14,223. That was in line with expectations following the upwardly revised 4.0 percent decline in September (originally -4.6 percent). On a yearly basis, approvals fell 6.1 percent - again matching forecasts following the 20.6 percent drop in the previous month.

The ABS also said Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$7.129 billion in October. That was shy of expectations for A$7.5 billion but still up from the downwardly revised A$6.184 billion surplus in September (originally A$6.786 billion). Exports rose 0.4 percent on month to A$45.548 billion, while imports slumped 1.9 percent to A$38.419 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave up their gains after a positive start and moved along the flat line till around mid-afternoon on Wednesday, before drifting lower to end the day's session on a weak note.

The major averages all ended modestly lower. The Dow, which advanced to 36,292.58 in early trades, settled at 36,054.43, losing 70.13 points or 0.19 percent. The S&P 500 ended down 17.84 points or 0.39 percent at 4,549.34, while the Nasdaq closed lower by 83.20 points or 0.58 percent at 14,146.71.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged 0.75 percent, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.66 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.34 percent. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.52 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday, extending losses to a fifth straight day after data showed a large increase in gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week, raising concerns about the outlook for fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $2.94 or 4.1 percent at $69.38 a barrel.