Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, adding to the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,300 level, with weakness in technology stocks nearly offset by gains in mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 8,323.70, after touching a high of 8,362.80 and a low of 8,320.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 7.50 points or 0.09 percent to 8,571.60. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 2 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent and Zip is declining 2.5 percent, while Appen is edging up 0.5 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, ANZ Banking is edging up 0.4 percent and Westpac is adding more than 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are adding more than 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Accent Group are tumbling almost 14 percent after warning its gross margins were coming under pressure as retailers place heavy discounts on products to tempt back shoppers.

Shares in Sayona Mining are sinking almost 8 percent to 3.5¢ after it wrapped a $40 million equity raise as it prepares to merge with fellow lithium player Piedmont Lithium, which is also down more than 8 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered in the latter part of the trading day on Wednesday after seeing weakness throughout much of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels before eventually ending the session narrowly mixed.

The Dow ended the day up 139.53 points or 0.3 percent at 43,408.47, while the S&P 500 closed little changed, up just 0.13 points at 5,917.11. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 21.32 points or 0.1 percent at 18,966.14 but staged a notable recovery attempt after tumbling by as much as 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday on weak demand concerns and data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December slipped $0.52 or 0.75 percent at $68.87 a barrel.