Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders tread cautiously ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate decision later in the day. The RBA is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 3.60 percent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.50 points or 0.23 percent to 7,318.10, after hitting a low of 7,308.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.17 percent to 7,511.80. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining more than 2 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent.

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

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.663 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Friday following the notable advance seen to close out the previous week. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session slightly lower. While the Dow dipped 46.46 points or 0.1 percent to 34,051.70, the Nasdaq slipped 13.96 points or 0.1 percent to 12,212.60 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.61 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,167.87.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all remained closed on the day.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday, weighed down by concerns about economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.12 or 1.5 percent at $75.66 a barrel.