Australian Market Tumbles To 19-month Low

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 sinking to 19-month lows to stay above the 6,400 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from global markets on recession fears, dragged by weakness across most sectors, particularly technology stocks. Gold miners were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 155.80 points or 2.36 percent to 6,435.30, after hitting a low of 6,410.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 162.50 points or 2.40 percent to 6,621.20. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, OZ Minerals and Fortescue Metals are declining almost 4 percent each, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 3 percent each.

Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 2 percent, Beach energy is declining almost 5 percent, Woodside Energy is down more than 2 percent and Santos is sliding more than 4 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing almost 4 percent, Xero is sliding 5.5 percent, Afterpay owner Block is plunging 7.5 percent and Appen is declining more than 2 percent, while Zip is adding almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 3 percent and National Australia Bank is declining more than 3 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are down more than 2 percent each.

Gold miners are higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent and Newcrest Mining is up almost 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.702 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Thursday, more than offsetting the rally seen during trading on Wednesday. With the sharp pullback on the day, the major averages tumbled to their lowest closing levels in well over a year.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still posted steep losses on the day. The Dow plunged 741.46 points or 2.4 percent to 29,927.07, The Nasdaq plummeted 453.06 points or 4.1 percent to 10,646.10 and the S&P 500 dove 123.22 points or 3.3 percent to 3,666.77.

The major European markets all also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 2.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index plunged by 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday after prices rebounded as tight supply levels outweighed concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.27 or 2 percent at $117.58 a barrel.