Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 8,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks were nearly offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks. An escalation in tensions in the Middle East weighed on market sentiment, after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, aiming to avenge the killing of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah and other senior leaders of the group.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 1.80 points or 0.02 percent to 8,207.10, after hitting a low of 8,176.80 and a high of 8,024.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 5.60 points or 0.07 percent to 8,476.30. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent and Beach energy is up more than 3 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 3 percent each. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping 1.5 percent and Xero is down more than 2 percent, while Appen is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 2 percent and Newmont is up almost 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are adding almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but remained firmly negative after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way lower.

The Nasdaq tumbled 278.81 points or 1.5 percent to 17,910.36, the S&P 500 slumped 53.73 points or 0.9 percent to 5,708.75 and the Dow fell 173.18 points or 0.4 percent to 42,156.97.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed after seeing early strength. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid the possibility of tight supplies due to an escalation in tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November closed up $1.66 or nearly 2.5 percent at $69.83 a barrel.