Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, extending the steep losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to nearly the 7,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across sectors, led by miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 77.30 points or 1.07 percent to 7,117.90, after hitting a low of 7,106.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 79.90 points or 1.08 percent to 7,331.90. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent. Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent, Xero is declining almost 2 percent, Appen is slipping almost 3 percent and Zip is plunging almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are declining more than 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is declining more than 4 percent, Newcrest Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources down more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is sliding almost 4 percent. In other news, shares in IPH are soaring almost 13 percent after it boosted its final dividend for the year.

Shares in Ingham Group are skyrocketing more than 15 percent after it reported a 72 per cent jump in full-year net profit.

Shares in Nuix plunged almost 9 percent despite reporting a 19.8 percent growth in statutory revenue over the past year.

Shares in Sezzle are surging almost 6 percent as it is set be begin trading on the Nasdaq later in the day.

Shares in Core Lithium are sinking almost 23 percent on reports of a $100 million share placement by the battery metals developer.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, amid indications the Federal Reserve will continue to hold interest rates higher for longer to contain inflation. Prospects of a possible downgrade of several U.S. lenders by Fitch Ratings weighed as well.

The major averages all ended firmly down in negative territory, with the Nasdaq suffering a sharper loss. The Dow ended with a loss of 180.65 points or 0.52 percent at 34,765.74, the S&P 500 shed 33.53 points or 0.76 percent, as it settled at 4,404.33 and the Nasdaq dropped 156.42 points or 1.15 percent to 13,474.63.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.44 percent, and France's CAC 40 shed 0.1 percent, while Germany's DAX crept up 0.14 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid worries about the outlook for energy demand from China and uncertainty over interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September shed $1.61 or 2 percent at $79.38 a barrel.