Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,850 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.90 points or 0.55 percent to 8,831.90, after touching a high of 8,890.50 and a low of 8,815.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 43.10 points or 0.47 percent to 9,107.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent, Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is declining 2.5 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, Zip is advancing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding 1.5 percent and Appen is up almost 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia bank is declining more than 4 percent. ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is surging more than 5 percent on upbeat full-year results, Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Tyro Payments are jumping more than 8 percent after it said it had received unsolicited and non-binding interest from separate parties regarding a potential acquisition.

Shares in AGL Energy are tumbling almost 12 percent amid downbeat full-year results due to lower wholesale power prices and tightening retail margins amid fierce competition.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.