Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous three sessions, the Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, mirroring the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to the US Fed's signals of keeping interest rates higher through 2024, despite the decision to hold interest rates steady this month.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.80 points or 0.68 percent to 7,114.50, after hitting a low of 7,116.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 49.00 points or 0.67 percent to 7,312.90. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent and Appen is slipping almost 2 percent, while Zip is gaining almost 2 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.642 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighing on the markets. The major averages spent much of the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line but all came under pressure late in the trading day

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, tumbling 209.06 points or 1.5 percent to 13,469.13, the S&P 500 also slumped 41.75 points or 0.9 percent to a nearly one-month closing low of 4,402.20 and the Dow posted a more modest loss, slipping 76.85 points or 0.2 percent to 34,440.88.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.8 and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday despite data showing a drop in crude inventories in the U.S. in the week ended September 15. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October settled lower by $0.92 at $90.28 a barrel on the expiration day. WTI Crude futures for November settled at $89.66 a barrel, down $0.82 from the previous close.