Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses across most sectors, led by mining stocks amid weaker metals prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 64.20 points or 0.89 percent to 7,192.90, after hitting a low of 7,184.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 63.20 points or 0.85 percent to 7,398.40. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are slipping more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging down 0.1 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block, Appen and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent. Zip is gaining almost 1 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent. Among gold miners, , Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent. Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are flat.

In other news, shares in Austal are surging more than 4 percent after the shipbuilder won a $143 million contract with the US Navy.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.638 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Wednesday after ending the previous session mostly lower. The major averages all decreased on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable decline.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels in afternoon trading but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq tumbled 148.48 points or 1.1 percent to 13,872.47, the S&P 500 slid 31.35 points or 0.7 percent to 4,465.48 and the Dow fell 198.78 points or 0.6 percent to 34,443.19.

The major European markets have all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices extended recent gains and moved higher on Wednesday, lifting the futures contract to a fresh nine-month closing high - fueled by the decision by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.85 or 1 percent at $87.54 a barrel.