The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,400 level, ignoring the firmly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, dragged by gold miners. Traders also remain concerned as the country struggles to contain the domestic coronavirus situation, primarily in New South Wales and Victoria.
NSW has reported 1,043 new local cases of COVID-19 and eleven deaths on Thursday. Victoria recorded 733 new locally acquired cases and one death, with active cases now totalling 7,160 across the state.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.00 points or 0.18 percent to 7,357.20, after hitting a low of 7,351.20 and a high of 7,377.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.70 points or 0.18 percent to 7,667.60. Australian markets ended significantly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1.5 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 1 percent, while OZ Minerals is gaining more than 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Oil Search is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum is adding more than 3 percent, Origin Energy is up almost 1 percent and Santos is higher by more than 2 percent, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Xero is losing 1.5 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is up almost 1 percent and Afterpay is rising more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.
Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is lower by almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is declining almost 4 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are down more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.731 on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. With the continued advance, the major averages more than offset the sell-off seen on Monday, turning positive for the week.
The major average pulled back off their best levels in late-day trading but remained firmly positive. The Dow soared 506.50 points or 1.5 percent to 34,764.82, the Nasdaq jumped 155.40 points or 1 percent to 15,052.24 and the S&P 500 surged up 53.34 points or 1.2 percent to 4,448.98.
The major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday amid prospects of a surge in energy demand and tighter supplies due to the slow recovery in the restoration of output in the Gulf of Mexico after recent hurricanes. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended up $1.07 or 1.5 percent at $73.30 a barrel.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis