Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 56.10 points or 0.64 percent to 8,782.90, after hitting a low of 8,780.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 60.70 points or 0.67 percent to 8,957.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.5 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent, Appen is declining more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 4 percent, while Zip and Xero are slipping almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping almost 5 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a slightly faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.7. That's up from 51.5 and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI jumped to 53.0 from 50.5 in June and the Composite PMI improved to 52.6 from 50.4.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Thursday after ending Wednesday's choppy session modestly lower. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep decline.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 553.21 points or 2.2 percent to 25,137.69, the S&P 500 tumbled 90.66 points or 1.2 percent to 7,408.30 and the Dow slumped 506.93 points or 1 percent to 51,711.65.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both tumbled by 1.6 percent.

Crude oil prices surged again on Thursday amid concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East set off by new attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $5.76 or 6.63 percent at $92.59 per barrel.