Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight as they were closed. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,300 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 52.70 points or 0.63 percent to 8,276.50, after hitting a low of 8,272.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 50.50 points or 0.59 percent to 8,527.30. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is down more than 1 percent, Zip is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is declining more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Newmont are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.3 and 0.5 percent each. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.620 on Friday.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed on Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while the German DAX Index edged down 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for global oil demand, and potential supply shortage due to the sanctions on Iranian and Russian crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $0.60 or 0.82 percent at $73.92 a barrel.