(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market was trading lower on Friday, led by the top banks, following more losses on the Wall Street overnight as U.S. markets moved lower on continued economic concerns. At 8:20 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was losing 47 points or 1.35% to 3,402, after closing nearly a percent higher on Thursday. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 44 points or 1.30% to 3,354.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher. The Aussie opened at US$0.6451-0.6457, up from Thursday’s close of US$0.6421-0.6425.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks ended Thursday’s choppy trading session lower, at new six-year lows, as traders digested another slew of economic news along with some mixed corporate news. The Dow closed down 90 points or 1.19% at 7,466, the Nasdaq lost 25 points or 1.71% to 1,443, and the S&P 500 fell 9 points or 1.20% to finish at 779.

On the economic front, the markets have very little economic reports to digest in today’s trading.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was down 1.84%, ANZ Banking Group lost 1.43%, and National Australia Bank fell 3.10%. Westpac slid 2.82%, while investment bank Macquarie Group dropped 5.53%.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton edged up 0.80%, while Rio Tinto fell 2.75%. Gold miners were weaker, after gold closed marginally lower on Thursday. Lihir Gold lost 3.12%, Sino Gold fell 6.38%, and Newcrest Mining dropped 6.27%.

On Thursday, crude oil futures for March delivery closed sharply higher, threatening to break the key $40 mark, after the Energy Information Administration announced an unexpected drop in crude oil inventories. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased 200,000 barrels in the week ended February 13, while experts were looking for an increase of about 3 million barrels.

Oil closed down $4.86 at $39.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, after hitting an intraday low of $34.59 and a high of $39.85. In the Asian session Friday, crude was down $0.64 at $38.84 in electronic trading at 7:38 p.m. ET.

Among energy stocks, Oil Search added 0.65%, Woodside gained 1.46%, and Santos edged up 0.35%.

In the retail sector, David Jones lost 2.07%, Coles’ owner Wesfarmers edged down 0.23%, and Woolworths lost 0.62%.

Oil refiner and marketer Caltex Australia Ltd. dropped 9.7% after it posted a 58% fall in full-year operating profit to A$186 million, due to weaker demand for its fuels and unplanned plant shutdowns, and said it will not pay a final dividend.

Surfwear retailer Billabong International Ltd. fell 6.1% after it reported a 7% fall in first-half profit to A$82.4 million. However, the company remained on track for full-year earnings per share growth of 6% to 10% in the absence of any further significant deterioration in the global boardsports market.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group fell 6.27% after it posted an A$1.3 billion loss for first-half on Thursday and said no decisions had been made regarding future distributions, while difficult economic conditions were impacting its performance.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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