Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Friday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,800 level, following the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weak crude oil and gold prices taking a toll of energy and materials stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.20 points or 0.13 percent to 6,836.40, after hitting a low of 6,825.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 14.60 points or 0.21 percent to 7,065.30. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent. OZ Minerals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent, Zip is adding almost 2 percent and Appen is edging up 0.5 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent. WiseTech Global is flat. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.4 percent each.

Gold miners are weak. Resolute Mining is losing almost 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 1 percent, while Newcrest Mining, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading day on Thursday following another sell-off early in the session. The major averages bounced well off their lows of the session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching positive territory.

The Dow climbed 145.99 points or 0.5 percent to 31,656.42 after falling by nearly 300 points, while the S&P 500 rose 11.85 points or 0.3 percent to 3,966.85. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also rebounded well off its worst level of the day but still closed down 31.08 points or 0.3 percent to 11,785.13.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index plunged 1.9 percent, the German DAX Index and French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures ended sharply lower Thursday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand and worries that aggressive rate hikes by major central banks may lead to a global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $2.94 or 3.3 percent at $86.61 a barrel.