Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 7,700 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in mining and financial stocks. Technology and energy stocks were mixed.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 41.90 points or 0.54 percent to 7,713.50, after hitting a low of 7,712.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.40 points or 0.56 percent to 7,961.50. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is down almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.5 percent each. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.3 percent, Xero is down almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, while Zip is adding more than 2 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont, Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Resolute Mining is declining 1.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stock indexes all moved to the downside in early trading on Tuesday but turned mixed over the course of the session. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 recovered from the early weakness to reach new record closing highs, the narrower Dow climbed off its worst levels but spent the rest of the day in negative territory.

The Nasdaq jumped 151.07 points or 0.9 percent to 17,343.55 and the S&P 500 rose 14.53 points or 0.3 percent to 5,375.32, but the Dow fell 120.62 points or 0.3 percent to 38,747.42.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices settled slightly higher Tuesday as caution reigned ahead of inventory data and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended up by $0.16 at $77.90 a barrel.