Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Snapping a four-session winning streak, the Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Wednesday after opening in the green, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,700 level, with losses in energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 12.80 points or 0.17 percent to 7,650.20, after touching a high of 7,682.30 and a low of 7,637.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 16.30 points or 0.21 percent to 7,905.90. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining almost 3 percent and BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are adding more than 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.3 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are advancing almost 5 percent each, while Appen is skyrocketing almost 24 percent and Xero is gaining almost 3 percent. WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac is edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Newmont is losing almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Flight Centre are slipping almost 8 percent after the online travel planner reported that total transaction values for the first-half missed analysts' expectations, though it jumped.

Shares in Neuren Pharmaceuticals are diving more than 10 percent after US sales of its Daybue drug came in below expectations.

In economic news, The value of total construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$65.440 billion. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent following the 1.3 percent gain in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, total construction work done was up 8.7 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day mixed.

While the Nasdaq climbed 59.05 points or 0.4 percent to 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 edged up 8.65 points or 0.2 percent to 5,078.18, the Dow dipped 96.82 points or 0.3 percent to 38,972.41.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed marginally lower.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday on supply concerns due to the disruptions in the Red Sea route and amid uncertainty about a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.29 or 1.66 percent at $78.87 a barrel.