The Australian market edged lower on Thursday, retracting some of the gains achieved in the previous session amid mixed signals from global markets overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 index remains above the 8,000 mark, pulling back slightly from its all-time highs, primarily due to a decline in technology stocks, mirroring their counterparts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Nevertheless, gains in energy and financial sectors provided some support.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is down by 6.40 points or 0.08% to 8,051.50, after peaking at 8,070.40 and dipping to 8,038.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index has also declined, losing 14.50 points or 0.18% to settle at 8,289.00. Australian stocks closed markedly higher on Wednesday.
Among major miners, shares of Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, and BHP Group remain flat, while Mineral Resources has dropped over 1%.
Oil stocks are performing well, with Woodside Energy and Beach Energy both up nearly 1%, while Origin Energy and Santos have inched higher by 0.4% to 0.5%.
In the technology sector, Xero has fallen by over 2%, Appen by more than 4%, and WiseTech Global by nearly 4%. Contrarily, Block, the owner of Afterpay, has gained almost 1%, and Zip has surged upwards by more than 8%.
The big four banks show mixed movements. Commonwealth Bank and Westpac have edged up by 0.2% to 0.4%, whereas ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank have both risen by almost 1%.
Gold mining companies have had varied performances. Evolution Mining has climbed by over 4%, Resolute Mining by 0.5%, and Newmont by nearly 1%. Meanwhile, Gold Road Resources dropped by almost 1%, and Northern Star Resources edged down by 0.2%.
Elsewhere, shares in Accent Group have soared by more than 9% following a profit update and the decision to close 18 Glue stores due to underperformance of the youth fashion brand. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.672 on Thursday.
Wall Street experienced mixed outcomes on Wednesday, with investor sentiment dampened by geopolitical concerns and a profit warning from Dutch semiconductor firm ASML. The Dow achieved a new high, while the Nasdaq saw a sharp decline.
The Dow rose by 243.60 points or 0.59% to 41,198.08. The S&P 500 dropped by 78.93 points or 1.39% to 5,588.27, whereas the Nasdaq plummeted by 512.42 points or 2.77% to 17,996.92.
European markets also closed with mixed results. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 fell by 0.44% and 0.12%, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose by 0.28%.
Crude oil prices saw a substantial increase on Wednesday. Following data showing an unexpected significant drop in U.S. crude inventories last week and bolstered by a weaker dollar, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for August surged by $2.09 or 2.6% to $82.85 a barrel.
