Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,100 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.70 points or 0.17 percent to 9,068.10, after hitting a low of 9,059.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.13 percent to 9,286.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue is adding more than 1 percent, while BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging down 0.4 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is sliding more than 2 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 7 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is edging down 0.3 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Newmont is up almost 1 percent, while and Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are advancing almost 2 percent each. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing purchasing managers index score of 52.0. That's unchanged from the June reading, and it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The survey also showed that the services PMI came in 52.9, down from 53.6 in the previous month, and the composite PMI slipped to 52.5 from 53.2.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved sharply lower as the day progressed, more than offsetting the modest gains posted during Wednesday's session.

The major averages ended the day not far off their lows of the session. The Dow tumbled 703.84 points or 1.3 percent to 52,759.21, the Nasdaq slumped 263.92 points or 1 percent to 26,067.17 and the S&P 500 slid 66.82 points or 0.9 percent to 7,641.16.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday after Trump announced his stringent economic measures against Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $2.01 or 2.34 percent at $87.84 per barrel.