The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,750 level, with weakness in mining, financial and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 149.90 points or 1.69 percent to 8,728.20, after hitting a low of 8,723.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 144.60 points or 1.59 percent to 8,962.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are down more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is declining almost 1 percent and BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent and Santos is slipping more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 2 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block and Appen are surging more than 5 percent each, whileWiseTech Global and Zip are declining almost 3 percent each. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is down almost 3 percent and ANZ Banking is losing more than 1 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are declining more than 2 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.3 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.721 on Friday.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.