Australian Market Extends Early Sharp Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early sharp losses in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near 8,500 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 133.00 points or 1.54 percent to 8,503.40, after hitting a low of 8,503.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 138.80 points or 1.56 percent to 8,776.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is declining more than 3 percent, Fortescue is down almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is losing more than 2 percent, while Mineral Resources is slipping more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are declining almost 2 percent each, while Santos and Beach energy are losing more than 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 5 percent, Appen is down more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is sliding more than 5 percent and Xero is slipping almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 3 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is declining more than 2 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

In other news, shares in James Hardie are advancing more than 7 percent after upgraded its full-year sales and earnings guidance after posting upbeat second-quarter results.

Shares in Plenti Group are surging more than 7 percent after posting a sharp jump in first-half profit as loan originations hit fresh records across all divisions.

Shares in TechnologyOne are tumbling more than 17 percent following its full-year results, despite announcing a special dividend of 10 cents and a profit rise of 17 percent.

In economic news, members of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Monetary Policy Board felt that the country's economic growth was expected to slow in the second half of 2025, minutes from the central bank's November 4 monetary policy meeting revealed on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the RBA held its cash rate at 3.60 percent, as widely expected. The bank had reduced the rate by 25 basis points each in August, May and February. The current 3.60 percent is the lowest since March 2023 as board members observed that some inflationary pressure may remain in the economy.

The minutes showed that consumer prices climbed more than expected in the September quarter, while monetary policy may need to be adjusted to the downside if the labor market were to weaken further. The members agreed that GDP was fluid and could come in stronger or weaker than expected; they also noted the shift in the composition of growth from public to private demand.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Tuesday.