Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,900 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and energy stocks are partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.20 points or 0.21 percent to 7,847.50, after touching a high of 7,870.20 and a low of 7,844.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.70 points or 0.16 percent to 8,119.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 1 percent, while BHP Group is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Xero is adding almost 1 percent. Zip is losing more than 1 percent. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent.

In other news, shares in Sonic Healthcare tumbled more than 10 percent after the diagnostics giant flagged lower-than-expected profit due to inflation and currency exchange headwinds.

Shares in James Hardie are also plunging almost 11 percent after the building products group's earnings guidance for fiscal 2025 came below expectations.

Shares in Star Entertainment are slipping more than 5 percent after Hard Rock International denied it is linked to any proposal. The struggling casino group said on Monday that it had received an approach from a related company.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its May 7 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA policy board left its benchmark interest rates unchanged, leaving the cash rate target at 4:35 percent. The board also retained the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances at 4.25 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved in opposite directions over the course of the trading session on Monday after an early advance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq added to last week's strong gains, reaching a new record closing high, while the Dow gave back ground after closing above 40,000 for the first time last Friday.

The Nasdaq ended the day up 108.91 points or 0.7 percent at 16,794.87. The S&P 500 also crept up 4.86 points or 0.1 percent to 5,308.13, but the Dow fell 196.82 points or 0.5 percent at 39,806.77.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer time. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped to around $79.80, down $0.26 from the previous close.