Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,700 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by financial stocks, amid surging global bond yields.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 50.00 points or 0.74 percent to 6,680.70, after hitting a low of 6,667.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 46.10 points or 0.67 percent to 6,872.60. Australian markets ended significantly lower on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing 2.5 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is losing more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent. Appen Zip is flat. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining more than 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mixed. Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.1 percent and Evolution Mining is declining almost 3 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant downturn over the course of the trading session on Thursday after failing to sustain an early rally. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and into negative territory.

The major averages all closed in the red, although the Dow posted a relatively modest loss. While the Nasdaq fell 65.66 points or 0.6 percent to 10,614.84 and the S&P 500 slid 29.38 points or 0.8 percent to 3,665.78, the narrower Dow dipped 90.22 points or 0.3 percent to 30,333.59.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures for November delivery settled higher on their expiration day as traders weighed energy demand and supply positions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.43 or 0.5 percent at $85.98 a barrel on the expiration day. But WTI Crude oil futures for December eased to $84.51 a barrel.