Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly 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 9,050 level, with weakness in technology stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 28.20 points or 0.31 percent to 9,040.20, after hitting a low of 9,017.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 37.50 points or 0.40 percent to 9,338.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto are adding almost 1 percent each. BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Zip are declining more than 2 percent each, while Appen and WiseTech Global are down almost 1 percent each. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent and Newmont is surging almost 5 percent, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are edging down 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in EROAD plummeting more than 34 percent after the New Zealand transport software business flagged an up to NZ$150 million impairment due to challenging conditions in the US market and cutting earnings guidance.

Vulcan Energy tumbling more than 8 percent despite striking a partnership deal with JordProxa to provide technology and equipment for its Phase One Lionheart lithium project in Germany.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Thursday but came under pressure over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and into negative territory.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the end of the day but remained in the red. The Dow slid 301.07 points or 0.7 percent to 45952.24, the S&P 500 declined 41.99 points or 0.6 percent to 6,629.07 and the Nasdaq fell 107.54 points or 0.5 percent to 22,562.54.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the Energy Information said crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased much more than expected, sparking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude Oil for November delivery was down $0.97 or 1.66 percent at $57.30 per barrel.