Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 9,250 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 38.60 points or 0.42 percent to 9,233.00, after hitting a low of 9,216.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down36.50 points or 0.39 percent to 9,415.50. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Fortescue is losing almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is sliding almost 5 percent, Zip is losing almost 4 percent and Appen is slipping almost 3 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 2 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.703 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to experience choppy trading on Thursday following the lackluster performance seen for much of Wednesday's session. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 spent most of the day lingering near the unchanged line, although the narrower Dow showed a more notable move to the downside.

The major averages all finished the day in negative territory. While the Dow slumped 464.02 points or 0.9 percent to 53,885.10, the S&P 500 dipped 13.59 points or 0.2 percent to 7,709.96 and the Nasdaq edged down 15.09 points or 0.1 percent to 26,348.35.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday following attacks on Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $2.11 or 2.81 percent at $77.33 per barrel.