Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is trading significantly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 7,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 61.70 points or 0.77 percent to 7,927.90, after hitting a low of 7,894.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 70.80 points or 0.86 percent to 8,153.50. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is plunging more than 9 percent amid reports that JPMorgan's equity capital markets team was looking for buyers for $1.9 billion of discounted stock on behalf of an undisclosed institutional investor.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is down more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Xero and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent. Appen is skyrocketing more than 29 percent after reporting encouraging Q2 financial results with a 16 percent revenue increase excluding Google amid strength in generative AI projects. Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Northern Star resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Evolution Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining almost 2 percent. Newmont is flat.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside early in the session on Monday but showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after posting strong gains last Friday.

The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed. While the Dow edged down 49.41 points or 0.1 percent to 40,539.93, the Nasdaq inched up 12.32 points or 0.1 percent to 17,370.20 and the S&P 500 crept up 4.44 points or 0.1 percent to 5,463.54.

Meanwhile, most European stocks moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to a seven-week low on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China, and ahead of Thursday's OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.35 or 1.8 percent at $75.81 a barrel.