Australian Market Maintains Early Sharp Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is maintaining it early sharp losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,500 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only bright spot amid spiking crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 126.90 points or 1.47 percent to 8,513.70, after hitting a low of 8,495.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 140.90 points or 1.59 percent to 8,706.80. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is adding more than 3 percent, Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent, Woodside Energy is surging almost 5 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 4 percent, Xero is losing almost 2 percent, Appen is slipping more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is sliding more than 4 percent and Zip is tumbling almost 7 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is sliding more than 7 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 8 percent, Newmont is slipping more than 5 percent, Genesis Minerals is tumbling more than 10 percent and Evolution Mining is sliding almost 8 percent.

In economic news, Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in February 2026, exceeding both the 4.1percent forecast and levels seen in the previous two months. This marked the highest reading since November, as the number of unemployed increased by 35,000 to a three-month high of 659,100 from 624,200 in January.

Meanwhile, employment climbed 48,900 to a new peak of 14.75 million, easily beating estimates of a 20,300 increase and after an upwardly revised 26,000 gain in January.

The participation rate hit a four-month high of 66.9 percent, compared with estimates and December's 66.7 percent. The underemployment rate held steady at 5.9 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.705 on Thursday.