The Australian market is extending the early losses in mid-market moves on Thursday, adding to the sharp losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,800 level, with weakness in gold miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 65.80 points or 0.74 percent to 8,777.80, after hitting a low of 8,747.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 61.20 points or 0.67 percent to 9,013.20. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is up more than 1 percent, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent, while Fortescue is losing almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent, Santos is advancing more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are edging down 0.3 percent each, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is down more than 1 percent. Zip is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all losing almost 2 percent each.
Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is down almost 2 percent, Newmont is slipping more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing more than 2 percent each.
In other news, shares in Temple & Webster group are tumbling almost 7 percent after the online furniture retailer announced a change of leadership, with Co-founder and CEO Mark Coulter transitioning to the role of executive chair on 1 July. Coulter will be replaced by Susie Sugden.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia bounced back up into expansion territory, the latest survey from S&P Global showed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.0. That's up from 49.8 in March and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 50.3 from 46.3 in March and the composite PMI climbed to 50.1 from 46.6.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Thursday.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.