Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 7,700 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in heavyweight iron ore miners and gold stocks amid tumbling metal prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 66.10 points or 0.84 percent to 7,772.70, after hitting a low of 7,772.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 66.70 points or 0.83 percent to 8,010.20. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Zip is declining almost 4 percent, while Xero is gaining almost 1 percent. Appen and WiseTech Global are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac is losing almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont and Resolute Mining are losing almost 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is slipping more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is declining 1.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is sliding more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Tuesday after a cautious session, as investors looked ahead to the release of some crucial U.S. data, including a report on consumer income and spending, for more clarity about the outlook for Federal Reserve's interest rates.

Among the major averages, the Dow settled with a loss of 299.05 points or 0.76 percent, at 39,112.16. The Nasdaq climbed up 220.84 points or 1.26 percent, to 17,717.65, while the S&P 500 ended up by 21.43 points or 0.39 percent, at 5,469.30.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended lower by 0.41 percent, Germany's DAX lost 0.81 percent and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.58 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders booked some profits ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data due later in the week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down by $0.80 or nearly 1 percent at $80.83 a barrel.