Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, 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 below the 8,600 level, with weakness in financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.30 points or 0.19 percent to 8,581.70, after touching a high of 8,623.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 9.80 points or 0.11 percent to 8,818.90. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 4 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 6 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding more than 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Zip is edging up 0.3 percent, Appen is adding almost 2 percent and Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 1 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent and Westpac is down almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is declining 1.5 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Newmont is adding more than 2 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 moving back to the upside following the pullback seen during Tuesday's trading. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, once again reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 190.24 points or 0.9 percent to 20,393.13 and the S&P 500 climbed 29.41 points or 0.5 percent to 6,227.42, although the narrower Dow edged down 10.52 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,484.42.

The major European markets were also mixed on the day. The French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices made sharp gains on Wednesday, even as the Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, as Iran has challenged the IAEA's power to inspect its nuclear sites without its security council's approval. A falling US dollar also offered support for oil. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August delivery closed up by $2.00 to settle at $67.45 per barrel.