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The Australian stock market is trimming its early losses in mid-market moves on Friday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 is staying below the 8,850 level, with weakness in financial and technology<\/span> stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks.<\/p>\n The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.50 points or 0.07 percent to 8,824.90, after hitting a low of 8,790.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 11.60 points or 0.13 percent to 9,090.40. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.<\/p>\n Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent.<\/p>\n Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent<\/p>\n Among tech stocks, Zip is declining almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent. Afterpay-owner Block is surging 7.5 percent on upbeat second-quarter results. Appen is flat.<\/p>\n Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent.<\/p>\n Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining 1.5 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Newmont is adding more than 2 percent.<\/p>\n In other news, shares in Nick Scali are surging almost 9 percent after the furniture retailer’s Australia and New Zealand business<\/span> saw second-half sales orders rise with a 65 percent gross margin.<\/p>\n Shares in Iress are soaring almost 12 percent after its board confirmed the company considered a takeover approach from New York-based private equity giant Blackstone.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, shares in GQG Partners are tumbling more than 14 percent after US$1.4 billion exited its funds in July, with US$1 billion of that tied to a single institutional client.<\/p>\n In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Friday. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n