Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Friday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,500 level, with weakness in gold miner stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.10 points or 0.25 percent to 8,504.60, after hitting a low of 8,470.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 26.10 points or 0.30 percent to 8,700.40. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent. Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent. Zip and Appen are losing more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.4 percent each. Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent. Gold miners are weak. Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are slipping more than 3 percent each. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Syrah Resources are tumbling more than 10 percent after the graphite producer raised capital for the fourth time in four years. It successfully completed the institutional component and will now push ahead with retail component of the equity raising. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw even further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after coming under pressure early in the session, ending the day sharply lower. With the steep losses, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 dropped to their lowest closing levels since early last September.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plunged 521.74 points or 2.4 percent to 21,408.08, the S&P 500 tumbled 114.74 points or 1.7 percent to 6,477.16 and the Dow slumped 469.38 points or 1 percent to 45,960.11.

The major European markets also showed significant moves downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dove by 1.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 1 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff over the 15-point peace proposal deepens the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $4.51 or 4.99 percent at $94.83 per barrel.