Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, adding to the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by materials and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 69.30 points or 0.87 percent to 7,894.40, after hitting a low of 7,882.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 76.20 points or 0.93 percent to 8,129.30. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent and Santos is losing more than 1 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 6 percent, Zip is declining more than 4 percent and WiseTech Global is down almost 2 percent, while Xero and Appen are losing more than 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is declining 1.5 percent. Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Wednesday, after ending yesterday's choppy trading session modestly lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop on the day, tumbling to its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages saw further downside late in the session, closing near their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq plunged 654.94 points or 3.6 percent to 17,342.41, the S&P 500 dove 128.61 points or 2.3 percent to 5,427.13 and the Dow slumped 504.22 points or 1.3 percent to 39,853.87

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.63 or 0.81 percent at $77.59 a barrel, snapping a three-day losing streak.