FX.co ★ Australian Market Notably Lower

The Australian stock market experienced a noticeable decline on Friday, breaking a ten-session winning streak due to broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index has fallen below the 8,000 mark, showing weakness across most sectors, particularly mining and energy stocks, as traders take profits. The S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased by 36.00 points or 0.45 percent to 7,991.00, after dipping to a low of 7,990.30 earlier. Similarly, the All Ordinaries Index is down by 38.70 points or 0.47 percent to 8,219.40, following modest gains on Thursday.

Major mining stocks are experiencing losses, with BHP Group and Fortescue Metals dropping nearly 1 percent each, Mineral Resources declining by over 3 percent, and Rio Tinto down more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are primarily in the red. Origin Energy is down almost 2 percent, Woodside Energy is off by nearly 1 percent, and Santos has dropped 0.3 percent. Beach Energy remains flat.

In the technology sector, Block (owner of Afterpay) and WiseTech Global are both down almost 2 percent, while Xero has decreased by 0.5 percent. On the other hand, Zip has edged up 0.2 percent and Appen has gained nearly 1 percent.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and Westpac have edged up by 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while ANZ Banking is down over 1 percent. Gold mining stocks show mixed results; Evolution Mining is down nearly 2 percent, Resolute Mining has dropped almost 3 percent, and both Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources have decreased by over 2 percent each. In contrast, Newmont is marginally up by 0.1 percent.

Elsewhere, Fisher & Paykel shares surged by nearly 10 percent after the healthcare group raised its financial 2025 profit guidance. Accent Group shares plummeted by almost 13 percent following a disappointing profit report. Inghams' shares crashed by more than 18 percent due to a warning of slowing volumes.

The Australian dollar is trading at $0.671 on Friday.

Wall Street saw significant selling pressure throughout the trading session on Thursday, failing to maintain an early upward momentum. Major indices pulled back from their highs, ending firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq fell by 299.63 points or 1.7 percent to 17,619.35, the S&P 500 dropped 50.21 points or 0.9 percent to 5,570.64, and the Dow decreased by 177.71 points or 0.4 percent to 40,712.78.

In contrast, European markets showed positive trends. The German DAX Index rose by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices saw a significant rebound during Thursday's trading, recovering from a previous sell-off. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September jumped by $1.01 or 1.4 percent to $72.94 a barrel, following an 8.0 percent plummet over the four preceding sessions.