Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly 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 to near the 8,200 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners, technology and energy stocks amid spike in crude oil and bullion prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.60 points or 0.19 percent to 8,207.40, after hitting a low of 8,201.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.60 points or 0.16 percent to 8,485.10. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is advancing more than 1 percent and Santos is adding almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent, while Xero and Zip are adding almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is declining almost 1 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing more than 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw modest weakness during trading on Thursday after turning in a strong performance in the previous session. The major averages all gave back ground, with the Dow and the S&P 500 pulling back off yesterday's record closing highs.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close of trading but remained in the red. The Dow slipped 57.88 points or 0.1 percent to 42,454.12, the Nasdaq edged down 9.57 points or 0.1 percent to 18,282.05 and the S&P 500 dipped 11.99 points or 0.2 percent to 5,780.05.

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

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as worries about escalating tensions in the Middle East outweighed uncertainty about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $2.61 or about 3.56 percent at $75.85 a barrel.