Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in mining and energy stocks amid weaker commodity prices.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia's June monetary policy meeting minutes later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.20 points or 0.21 percent to 7,283.30, after hitting a low of 7,277.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 15.30 points or 0.20 percent to 7,496.30. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.4 percent each. Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent and Zip is adding more than 2 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star resources is down more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.2 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is up almost 1 percent, Westpac is adding 1.5 percent, ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.682 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Monday following the strong upward move seen last week. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in over a year.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 131.25 points or 0.9 percent to 14,244.95, the S&P 500 climbed 17.37 points or 0.4 percent to 4,522.79 and the Dow rose 76.32 points or 0.2 percent to 34,585.35.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand after data showed the Chinese economy grew at slower than expected pace in the second quarter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.27 or 1.7 percent at $74.15 a barrel.