Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading sharply lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid weak commodity prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 93.70 points or 1.14 percent to 8,161.90, after hitting a low of 8,139.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 90.30 points or 1.06 percent to 8,424.90. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is declining more than 3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is flat. Mineral Resources is slipping almost 7 percent on news the lithium miner will put operations on hold at the Bald Hill site in Western Australia until spodumene prices improve.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. In the tech space, Zip is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining almost 4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 4 percent. WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is slipping almost 5 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing 1.5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent.

Shares in Light & Wonder are slipping more than 6 percent after it reported a 15 percent rise in gaming revenue in the three months to the end of September, driven by global gaming machine sales growth. However, earnings per share fell short of analysts' expectations.

Shares is James Hardie are surging are almost 6 percent after the building materials giant reaffirmed the lower end of its volume guidance, despite posting a 23 percent drop in net profit, citing a "challenging demand environment" for its products, particularly in Asia and Europe.

Shares in Selfwealth are skyrocketing 72 percent after it received a buyout offer from Bell Financial Group at 22¢ apiece, almost double yesterday's closing price. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back ground during trading on Tuesday following the strong upward move seen in reaction to last week's last elections. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the trading session before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow underperformed its counterparts, slumping 382.15 points or 0.9 percent to 43,910.98. The S&P 500 dipped 17.36 points or 0.3 percent to 5,983.99 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down 17.36 points or 0.1 percent to 19,281.40.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plunged by 2.7 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 2.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices edged up only a bit on Tuesday after OPEC lowered its global oil demand forecast for 2025, while the dollar's continued strength hurt as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.08 at $68.12 a barrel.