The Australian stock market is trading weak on Friday with investors tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks drifted lower overnight amid worries about the U.S. economy.
Mining, energy, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks are trading weak, financial, property trusts and healthcare stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 17 points or 0.4 percent at 4,473.7. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,545, down 16.3 points or 0.4 percent from its previous close.
BHP Billiton is down by over 1.5 percent. The company has announced that it will buy U.S.-based oil company Petrohawk Energy for A$14.1 billion, increasing its exposure to the American energy market. BHP said the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for BHP to pay US$38.75 for each Petrohawk share in an all-cash tender offer.
Lynas Corporation, Rio Tinto, Iluka Resources and Paladin Energy are among the other notable losers in the mining space. However, Newcrest Mining is trading higher by about 1.2 percent.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search are trading weak.
Bank stocks ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac are also down in negative territory.
Shares of News Corporation are down 2.3 percent after the UK phone hacking scandal moved across to the US. The FBI announced on Thursday that it would lunch an investigation to find out if News Corp titles hacked into the phones of US citizens.
Computershare, Billabong International, Downer EDI and Boart Longyear are also trading weak. Resmed, Harvey Norman Holdings, Seven West Media, Brambles and Connecteast Group shares are up with notable gains.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened slightly weak and was quoting at US$1.0725 in early trades, down from Thursday's close of US$1.0731.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and South Korea are trading notably higher. New Zealand and Taiwan are up marginally, while Malaysia and Singapore are trading slightly weak. Markets across the region ended on a mixed note on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday despite showing some strength early on in the session. While stocks found some support initially following an unexpected rise in retail sales and a drop in weekly jobless claims, the decline was due to uncertainty about raising the debt limit and the near-term outlook for the economy.
The Dow ended down 54.5 points or 0.4 percent at 12,437.1, the Nasdaq declined by 34.2 points or 1.2 percent to 2,762.7 and the S&P 500 slid 8.8 points or 0.7 percent to 1,308.9.
Major European markets ended in negative territory on Thursday. The German DAX index ended down 0.7 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index lost 1 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices eased on Thursday amid worries about a likely fall in demand following the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman's statement that the central bank was not ready yet to take more monetary easing measures. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended down $2.36 at $95.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.