Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is slightly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,000 mark, retreating slightly from all-time highs, with weakness in technology stocks which mirrored their peers on tech-heavy Nasdaq. This was partially offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.40 points or 0.08 percent to 8,051.50, after touching a high of 8,070.40 and a low of 8,038.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 14.50 points or 0.18 percent to 8,289.00. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Xero is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is declining more than 4 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping almost 4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent and Zip is surging more than 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 4 percent, Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Newmont is up almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Accent Group are soaring more than 9 percent after a profit update and its decision to close 18 Glue stores due to weak performance from the youth fashion brand. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.672 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday with geopolitical concerns and profit warning from Dutch semiconductor firm ASML rendering the mood cautious. Among the major averages, the Dow moved on to a new high, while the tech-laden Nasdaq ended sharply lower.

The Dow ended with a gain of 243.60 points or 0.59 percent at 41,198.08. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 78.93 points or 1.39 percent at 5,588.27, while the Nasdaq dropped 512.42 points or 2.77% to 17,996.92.

The major European markets also closed mixed on the day. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.44 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.28 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also provided support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rallied $2.09 or 2.6 percent at $82.85 a barrel.