Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Adding to the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is in the red for the second straight session on Friday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,200 level, pulled down by losses in financial stocks nearly offset by some gains in mining, energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.00 points or 0.13 percent to 7,164.30, after hitting a low of 7,143.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.70 points or 0.12 percent to 7,376.00. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is losing 1.5 percent and Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent, while Beach energy is gaining 1.5 percent and Santos is surging more than 6 percent after confirming it was in talks with larger rival Woodside Energy for a potential $80 billion merger.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing 1.5 percent, while Appen is soaring almost 14 percent, Xero is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging down 0.3 percent. Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent and Newmont is declining more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday after moving mostly higher early in the session. The major averages moved back to the upside following the downturn seen on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the rebound.

The Nasdaq jumped 193.28 points or 1.4 percent to 14,339.99, reaching its best closing level in over four months. The S&P 500 also advanced 36.25 points or 0.8 percent to 4,585.59, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, edging up 62.95 points or 0.2 percent to 36,117.38.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed more modest moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled slightly lower Thursday amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand due to global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.04 at $69.34 a barrel.