Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday in choppy trading, extending the gains in the previous eight sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, dragged by technology stock which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 14.40 points or 0.20 percent to the day's low of 7,222.80. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 19.00 points or 0.26 percent to 7,415.30. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent and OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. In the tech space, Xero and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Appen is edging down 0.4 percent and Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent. Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent. Westpac is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday following the weakness seen in the previous session.

While the Dow rose 80.34 points or 0.2 percent to 33,482.72, the S&P 500 closed down 10.22 points or 0.3 percent to 4,090.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a more significant move to the downside, slumping 129.47 points or 1.1 percent to 11,996.86.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday as worries about economic slowdown outweighed data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.10 at $80.61 a barrel.