Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, recouping the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,950 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 34.50 points or 0.39 percent to 8,937.90, after touching a high of 8,984.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 38.30 points or 0.41 percent to 9,206.70. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent and Fortescue is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy Woodside Energy and Beach energy are flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, while Appen and Xero are down almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, while Newmont, Evolution Mining and Northern Star resources are gaining almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its August 12 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to 3.60 percent as underlying inflation continued to soften and labor conditions eased slightly. The third cut this year took the rate to the lowest since March 2023. Previously, the bank had reduced the rate by 25 basis points each in May and February.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after ending last Friday's trading sharply higher. The major averages turned in a lackluster performance for much of the session before coming under pressure going into the close.

The major averages all finished the day in negative territory. The Dow slid 349.27 points or 0.8 percent to 45,282.47, the S&P 500 fell 27.59 points or 0.4 percent to 6,439.32 and the Nasdaq slipped 47.24 points or 0.2 percent to 21,449.29.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K. markets closed for a public holiday, while the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices jumped on Monday, on concerns that Western sanctions on Russian oil exports may continue longer than anticipated. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.20 or 1.89 percent at $64.86 per barrel.