(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,500 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, after the release of the FOMC minutes, which indicated the US Fed is preparing to begin reducing the size of its balance sheet soon after raising interest rates.
Traders also continue to be concerned about the sharp spike in domestic new coronavirus infections. New South Wales records 34,994 new cases and six deaths on Wednesday. Victoria reported a new daily record of 21,997 new cases and six deaths. Queensland recorded 10,332 new cases and one death and Tasmania reported 751 new cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 91.60 points or 1.21 percent to 7,474.20, after hitting a low of 7,465.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 101.40 points or 1.28 percent to 7,798.20. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining 1.5 percent and OZ Minerals is edging up 0.5 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are gaining more than 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is losing 1.5 percent. is edging up 0.6 percent.
Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Petroleum, Origin Energy, Beach Energy and Santos are all losing more than 1 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent, ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent, National Australia Bank is declining almost 1 percent and Westpac is down 0.6 percent.
In the tech space, Xero, Appen and Zip are losing 3.5 percent each, while Afterpay is plunging more than 10 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping more than 5 percent. Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is declining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping 2.5 percent.
In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in December, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 55.1. That's down from 55.7 in November, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index fell to 54.9 in December from 55.7 in November.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.721 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved notably lower during trading on Wednesday with traders reacting negatively to the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop, extending the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.
After reaching a new record intraday high, the Dow turned lower following the release of the Fed minutes, slumping 392.54 points or 1.1 percent to 36,407.11. The Nasdaq plunged 522.54 points or 3.3 percent to 15,100.17 and the S&P 500 tumbled 92.96 points or 1.9 percent to 4,700.58.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices showed a notable advance Wednesday on optimism the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will not significantly impact global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February delivery jumped $0.86 or 1.1 percent to $77.85 a barrel.
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