Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is extending early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,600 level, with weakness in financial and energy stocks partially offset by gains in mining and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 44.30 points or 0.52 percent to 8,553.40, after touching a high of 8,623.60 and a low of 8,543.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 39.40 points or 0.45 percent to 8,789.30. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 4 percent, Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent, Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Origin Energy is declining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 2 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent. Appen and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 4 percent and Newmont is adding more than 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Thursday.