The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Friday, adding to the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,750 level, with weakness in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 37.50 points or 0.43 percent to 8,755.90, after hitting a low of 8,736.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 45.40 points or 0.50 percent to 8,978.80. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent, Fortescue is tumbling more than 4 percent, BHP Group is declining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging down 0.1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are losing more than 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is slipping almost 3 percent, Appen is declining more than 4 percent and Zip is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is declining more than 3 percent, Genesis Minerals is slipping more than 4 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.
In other news, shares in IGO are tumbling almost 10 percent after the critical minerals miner cut back guidance on spodumene production from its Greenbushes operation.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Friday.
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.