(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is lower after giving up early gains on Thursday, reversing the gains of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 hovering just above the 7,000 mark just off its 13-month highs, following negative cues overnight from Wall Street. The market is weighed down by gold miners, technology and financial stocks, offsetting gains in materials.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.20 points or 0.19 percent to 7,009.90, after touching a high of 7,034.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 7.00 points or 0.10 percent to 7,273.60. Australian markets ended higher on Wednesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 2 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding almost 2 percent each.
Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices jumped overnight. Oil Search is gaining almost 2 percent, while Santos and Woodside Petroleum are adding more than 1 percent each. Beach Energy is up more than 3 percent.
Among Tech stocks, Appen and Afterpay are losing almost 1 percent each, while Xero is declining more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are all losing almost 1 percent each. Gold miners are lower after gold price tumbled. Evolution Mining is declining almost 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is declining almost 2 percent. Resolute Mining is losing more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.774 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after moving to the upside early in the session. Reflecting weakness among technology stocks, the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower.
After jumping by 1.1 percent in the previous session to its highest closing level in nearly two months, the Nasdaq slumped 138.26 points or 1 percent to 13,857.84. The S&P 500 also slid 16.93 points or 0.4 percent to 4,124.66 after reaching a new record intraday high in early trading. On the other hand, the Dow pulled back well off its best levels of the day but still closed up 53.62 points or 0.2 percent at 33,730.89.
Most European stocks also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while the German DAX Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil futures spiked on Wednesday, buoyed by an upward revision in the global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May jumped $2.97 or 4.9 percent at $63.15 a barrel, the highest settlement in four weeks.
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