Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly lower on Friday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,950 level, with weakness across all segments led by technology and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 102.20 points or 1.13 percent to 8,941.30, after hitting a low of 8,950.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 117.10 points or 1.26 percent to 9,164.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, BHP Group is declining 1.5 percent, Fortescue is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly weak. Santos is slipping more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is declining more than 7 percent, WiseTech Global is tumbling almost 13 percent, Zip is sliding more than 4 percent, Xero is losing more than 5 percent and Appen is slipping almost 7 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent and Westpac is down almost 1 percent. Gold miners are weak. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing more than 4 percent each, while Newmont is slipping more than 3 percent, Genesis Minerals is tumbling more than 6 percent and Resolute Mining is down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.709 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Thursday after ending Wednesday's choppy trading session modestly lower. The major averages once again failed to sustain an early upward move and pulled sharply as the day progressed.

The major averages saw further downside going into the end of the day, closing near their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plunged 469.32 points or 2.0 percent to 22,597.15, the S&P 500 tumbled 108.71 points or 1.6 percent to 6,832.76 and the Dow slumped 669.42 points or 1.3 percent to 49,451.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the demand forecast by the International Energy Agency for 2026 projected an overwhelming supply glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.97 or 3.05 percent at $62.66 per barrel.