Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to just above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 123.10 points or 1.72 percent to 7,040.30, after hitting a low of 7,023.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 124.20 points or 1.69 percent to 7,240.80. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is losing almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are down almost 2 percent each. Oil stocks are weak. Santos and Woodside Energy are losing more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is plunging almost 5 percent, Xero is losing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is down 2.5 percent and Appen is declining more than 2 percent, while Zip is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 2 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are lower. Northern Star Resources is losing 3.5 percent, Resolute Mining is plunging almost 6 percent and Gold Road Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are down more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.663 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant weakness during trading on Thursday, extending the pullback seen during Wednesday's session. The major averages regained some ground after an early sell-off but remained notably lower.

After tumbling by more than 500 points in morning trading, the Dow ended the day down 366.38 points or 1.1 percent at 33,922.26. The Nasdaq slumped 112.61 points or 0.8 percent to 13,679.04 and the S&P 500 slid 35.23 points or 0.8 percent to 4,11.59.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plunged 3.1 percent, the German DAX Index dove by 2.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 2.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Thursday with traders weighing the impact of higher interest rates on growth and energy demand against data showing a drop in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $71.80 a barrel, up a penny from the previous close.