The Australian stock market is trimming its early losses in mid-market moves on Friday, but extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,800 level, with weakness in across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the only bright spot.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.60 points or 0.18 percent to 8,777.60, after hitting a low of 8,752.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.20 points or 0.36 percent to 8,884.90. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is declining more than 3 percent each, while Fortescue, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are losing more than 2 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, Santos is declining almost 4 percent and Woodside Energy is losing more than 2 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Xero is adding more than 2 percent, while Appen is slipping more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent. Zip is plummeting almost 30 percent after its first-quarter update revealed a major U.S. fraud incident and higher-than-expected bad debt.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is advancing almost 3 percent and ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is sliding more than 4 percent, Evolution Mining is slipping almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is tumbling more than 6 percent and Newmont is declining more than 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Temple & Webster are plunging almost 29 percent after he online furniture retailer highlighted an 8 percent decline in top-line sales to date amid weak demand, alongside a shift in its business strategy.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in October, albeit at a slightly slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.7. That’s up marginally from 49.6 in September, and it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services PMI dropped to 47.8 in October from 51.9 in September, while the composite PMI fell to 47.7 from 51.3.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.701 on Friday.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market
2026-10-23 03:26:29
