Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is retracting from all-time highs and falling below the 8,400 level, with weakness in financial and energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.20 points or 0.43 percent to 8,381.40, after touching a high of 8,433.00 and a low of 8,372.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 29.30 points or 0.34 percent to 8,631.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Rio Tinto, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent, Beach energy is slipping almost 3 percent and Santos is down more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 3 percent, Appen is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are declining almost 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 3 percent, ANZ Banking is slipping 1.5 percent, Westpac is down more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is declining almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in EML Payments are skyrocketing more than 23 percent after reporting an underlying earnings growth of 46 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.646 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but managed to close mostly higher after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. While the major averages pulled back off their best levels of the day, the Dow still reached a new record closing high.

The Dow closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, jumping 440.06 points or 1.0 percent to 44,736.57. The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to six sessions, climbing 18.03 points or 0.3 percent to 5,987.37, while the Nasdaq rose 51.18 points or 0.3 percent to 19,054.84.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday, weighed down by reports that Israel and Hezbollah are likely to reach a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.30 or 3.2 percent at $68.94 a barrel.