Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying just above the 8,700 level, with weakness in mining stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 7.30 points or 0.08 percent to 8,729.90, after touching a high of 8,759.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 6.00 points or 0.07 percent to 8,995.40. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Fortescue is adding more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is edging up 0.1 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each. Zip is gaining more than 2 percent, while Xero and Appen are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping almost 4 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are losing almost 2 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, a preliminary survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.6. That's up from 50.6 in June and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 53.8 in July from 51.8 in June, and the composite PMI moved to 53.6 from 51,6 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending Tuesday's session narrowly mixed. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow jumped 507.85 points or 1.1 percent to 45,010.20, the Nasdaq climbed 127.33 points or 0.6 percent to 21,020.02 and the S&P 500 advanced 49.29 points or 0.8 percent to 6,358.91.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices dipped slightly on Wednesday as uncertainty persists in U.S. trade talks ahead of the deadline. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery eased $0.06 to $65.25 per barrel.