Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 31.50 points or 0.42 percent to 7,489.00, after hitting a low of 7,487.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 31.00 points or 0.40 percent to 7,718.50. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are losing almost 2 percent each. Mineral Resources is declining almost 5 percent after it bought a 9.97 percent stake in Kali Metals, which is jumping more than 38 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is declining more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, while Xero and Appen are adding almost 1 percent each. Zip is losing 1.5 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Among gold miners, Newmont is declining more than 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are down more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is adding more than 1 percent. In other news, shares in Neometals are surging more than 11 percent after the battery technology company got a $30 million dollar order from luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.

Shares in Alumina are soaring more than 13 percent after its announced plans to halt alumina production at its Western Australia Kwinana plant this year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower in early trading on Tuesday but regained ground over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq peeking above the unchanged line.

The major averages finished the day mixed. While the Nasdaq inched up 13.94 points or 0.1 percent to 14,857.71, the S&P 500 edged down 7.04 points or 0.2 percent to 4,756.50 and the Dow fell 157.85 points or 0.4 percent to 37,525.16.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved modestly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday as rising geopolitical risks raised concerns about possible supply and trade disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $1.47 at $72.24 a barrel.