Australian Market Maintains Slight Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is maintaining its slight losses in mid-market moves on Wednesday, snapping a five-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well below the 8,300 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with a mixed performance across most sectors. Traders are also booking some profits following the recent upside in the markets.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 8.70 points or 0.11 percent to 8,260.30, after hitting a low of 8,247.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 4.70 points or 0.06 percent to 8,506.00. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.2 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is adding more than 3 percent, Santos is edging up 0.3 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Zip is advancing almost 6 percent and Appen is adding more than 4 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia bank and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is losing almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Aristocrat Leisure are tumbling almost 13 percent after the gaming technology company reported downbeat half-year results.

Shares in Insignia Financial are plunging almost 15 percent after the Bain Capital pulled out from takeover talks amid volatility in global capital markets.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Wednesday.