Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,200 level, with weakness in mining stocks amid tumbling metal prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 42.10 points or 0.51 percent to 8,224.10, after hitting a low of 8,215.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 39.60 points or 0.47 percent to 8,479.30. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.4 to 0.1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Appen, Zip, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is soaring almost 11 percent, mirroring gains in the stock's US-listed shares after a bullish analyst note from Piper Sandler.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 5 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star resources are declining more than 3 percent each. Newmont is plunging more than 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.1 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent, while Westpac is edging down 0.4 percent and National Australia Bank is losing more than 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Paladin Energy are tumbling almost 25 percent after the uranium producer lowered its FY25 guidance, citing operational challenges and delays in ramping up production.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed on a firm note on Monday, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, even as the Nasdaq settled flat with technology stocks turning in a subdued performance.

The Dow settled at 44,293.13, up 304.14 points or 0.69 percent from previous close, the S&P 500 closed up 5.81 points or 0.1 percent at 6,001.35 and the Nasdaq eked out a small gain of 11.99 points or 0.06 percent, settling at 19,298.76.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.65 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.21 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively,

Crude oil closed sharply lower on Monday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and concerns about demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $2.34 or 3.6 percent at $68.04 a barrel.