Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 8,600 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 18.60 points or 0.22 percent to 8,570.70, after hitting a low of 8,550.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 18.80 points or 0.21 percent to 8,807.60. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Xero is advancing more than 1 percent. Appen and Zip are losing almost 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 5 percent, while Newmont and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 2 percent each. Northern Star resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected to trim its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 3.60 percent from 3.85 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday, giving back ground after moving sharply higher over the past several sessions. The major averages moved to the downside in early trading and slid more firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels of the day but still notably lower. The Dow tumbled 422.17 points or 0.9 percent to 44,406.36, the Nasdaq slumped 188.59 points or 0.9 percent to 20,412.52 and the S&P 500 slid 49.37 points or 0.8 percent to 6,229.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices edged higher Monday, shrugging off oversupply concerns triggered by OPEC's decision to accelerate its production increase starting in August. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose $0.93 to settle at $67.93 per barrel.