Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday after an extended weekend, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness in mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.60 points or 0.19 percent to 7,108.90, after hitting a low of 7,101.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.30 points or 0.18 percent to 7,299.00. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday prior to the holiday on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 3 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are declining more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is declining more than 3 percent, while Xero is gaining almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent and Zip is up almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star resources is losing more than 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is declining almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is slipping more than 2 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.4 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. National Australia Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in Domino's Pizza are plunging almost 9 percent after its slashed its sales outlook for the full-year 2023. It also announced the closure of 27 stores in Denmark, and 65 to 70 underperforming corporate stores as well as its construction and supply business in Australia.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.675 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, adding to the modest gains posted last week. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over a year.

The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 202.78 points or 1.5 percent to 13,461.92, the S&P 500 jumped 40.07 points or 0.9 percent to 4,338.93 and the Dow climbed 189.55 points or 0.6 percent to 34,066.33.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a downward revision in the crude oil price forecast by Goldman Sachs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July tumbled $3.05 or 4.4 percent at $67.12 a barrel, a three-month low.