Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 7,700 level, with weakness is mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices. Gold miners were higher amid spiking bullion prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.80 points or 0.13 percent to 7,751.20, after touching a high of 7,768.20 and a low of 7,750.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.40 points or 0.17 percent to 8,010.70. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, Beach energy is down 1.5 percent and Santos is declining almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Appen is losing almost 2 percent and Zip is declining 3.5 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent, Northern Star resources is adding almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered in afternoon trades and ended the day's session on a mixed note after a positive start and a subsequent retreat that resulted in a fairly long spell in negative territory on Monday.

The Nasdaq outperformed, settling at 16,828.67 with a gain of 93.65 points or 0.56 percent. The S&P 500 edged up 5.89 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 5,283.40, while the Dow ended down 115.29 points or 0.3 percent at 38,571.03.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. Germany's DAX gained 0.6 percent, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.06 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.15 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to a four-month low on Monday after OPEC said it will begin phasing out voluntary production cuts over the next year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $2.77 or about 3.6 percent at $74.22 a barrel.