Australian Market Slightly Lower

The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Thursday, giving up the slight gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400 level, following the mostly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with mining and energy stocks dragging the market amid slumping commodity prices.

The Reserve bank of Australia is set to respond to the higher inflation figures that rocked investor confidence on Wednesday. However, the inflation figures are still within the RBA’s target range.

Traders also look at the domestic coronavirus situation, particularly in Victoria where COVID-19 restrictions are being relaxed despite reporting 1,923 new locally acquired cases and a record 25 deaths on Wednesday. NSW has reported 293 new local cases of COVID-19 and two deaths.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.20 points or 0.18 percent to 7,435.50, after hitting a low of 7,416.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.90 points or 0.18 percent to 7,744.10. Australian markets ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while OZ Minerals is declining almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 2 percent. Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 1 percent after reporting record shipments for the September quarter.

Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum are losing almost 2 percent each, while Santos, Beach Energy and Oil Search are down almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent. National Australia Bank is flat. ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent after reporting a 65 percent surge in annual profit and more than doubling its dividend.

In the tech space, Xero is edging up 0.5 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent, while Appen is declining more than 1 percent, Afterpay is losing more than 2 percent and Zip is down almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.2 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.5 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing more than 2 percent.

Shares in Whitehaven Coal are plunging almost 10 after global coal prices dropped sharply on China’s multifaceted approach to ease its energy crisis.

In economic news, Export prices in Australia were up 6.2 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – slowing from the 13.2 percent jump in Q2. Import prices rose 5.4 percent on quarter, accelerating from 1.9 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, export prices skyrocketed 41.0 percent and import prices jumped 6.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.749 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday before coming under pressure in the latter part of the session. The Dow and the S&P 500 slid firmly into negative territory, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day nearly flat.

After climbing as much as 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq finished the session up by just 0.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 15,235.84. Meanwhile, the Dow slumped 266.19 points or 0.7 percent to 35,490.69 and the S&P 500 fell 23.11 points or 0.5 percent to 4,551.68.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices sank Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. Oil prices were also weighed down by prospects of Iran freeing itself from U.S. sanctions and start selling oil to major importers again. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December were down by $1.99 or 2.3 percent at $82.66 a barrel.

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