Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted to the US Fed raising interest rates by 50 basis points and signaling more hikes next year. However, the index pulled back following the release of positive domestic unemployment data.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.30 points or 0.23 percent to 7,235.00, after hitting a low of 7,202.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 19.30 points or 0.26 percent to 7,419.40. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is declining almost 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent, while WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent. Appen is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is flat.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is declining almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping 2.5 percent.

In economic news, Australia's unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - unchanged and in line with expectations. The Australian economy added 64,000 jobs last month, blowing away expectations for an increase of 19,000 following the increase of 32,200 jobs in October. There were 34,200 full-time jobs added last month and 29,800 part-time jobs added. The participation rate climbed to 66.8, beating forecasts for 66.6 and up from 66.5 in the previous month.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.687 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility after a positive start to the day, following the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages showed wild swings before eventually closing firmly in negative territory.

The major averages finished the day in the red but off their lows of the session. The Dow fell 142.29 points or 0.4 percent to 33,966.35, the Nasdaq slid 85.93 points or 0.8 percent to 11,170.89 and the S&P 500 dropped 24.33 points or 0.6 percent to 3,995.32.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, lifted by an upward revision in demand forecast by the International Energy Agency due to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $77.28 a barrel.