The Australian stock market is lower on Thursday, extending losses of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 hovering below the 6,800 level, despite positive cues overnight from Wall Street following the FOMC's guidance. Technology, financial and real estate stocks are dragging the market, offsetting gains among gold miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 23.50 points or 0.35 percent to 6,771.70, after touching a high of 6,806.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 20.60 points or 0.29 percent to 7,027.40. Australian ended lower on Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak.
Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent and BHP Group is also edging up 0.1 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed after crude oil prices declined overnight. Oil Search is edging down 0.1 percent, while Santos is gaining more than 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among Tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent, while Afterpay is declining more than 2 percent and Xero is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat. National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the latest move to simplify the bank, Westpac sold its mortgage insurance business to Bermuda-based insurance specialist Arch Capital Group at an undisclosed price and will record a loss on the deal due to separation and transaction costs.
Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining is adding more than 5 percent, Newcrest Mining is gaining more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is up almost 4 percent. Gold Road Resources jumped more than 7 percent.
Shares in Adherium are plunging more than 19 percent after the healthcare firm sealed an $18 million raise with commitments from existing shareholders including Trudell Medical to buy shares at 1.5 cents each.
In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was well below forecasts for 6.3 percent and down sharply from 6.4 percent in January. The Australian economy added 88,700 jobs last month - blowing away expectations for an increase of 30,000 following the increase of 29,100 in the previous month. The participation rate came in at 66.1 percent - unchanged from the previous month but shy of expectations for 66.2 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.783 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended Wednesday's trading mostly higher, reflecting a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. With the upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a significant rebound after moving sharply lower in early trading. After tumbling by as much as 1.5 percent, the Nasdaq ended the day up 53.64 points or 0.4 percent to 13,525.20. The Dow also advanced 189.42 points or 0.6 percent to 33,015.37 and the S&P 500 rose 11.41 points or 0.3 percent to 3,974.12.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly unchanged and the German DAX Index rose up by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by another jump in U.S. crude stockpiles and concerns over the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $64.60 a barrel.
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