Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,950 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 29.00 points or 0.32 percent to 8,927.80, after hitting a low of 8,920.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 33.10 points or 0.36 percent to 9,220.50. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent, Fortescue is edging up 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent, BHP Group is flat.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Appen is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is advancing more than 3 percent, while Xero is losing more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is flat. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is tumbling more than 5 percent and Newmont is down more than 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

In other news, shares in James Hardie are surging almost 10 percent after the building-materials company reported preliminary net sales for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.

Shars in Apiam Animal Health are jumping more than 8 per cent on news that private equity firm Adamantem has completed its due diligence on the ASX-listed rural veterinary service provider after it lobbed a non-binding indicative offer in August.

Shares in Catalyst Metals are tumbling more than 6 percent after the gold miner reported a quarterly production update revealing a shortfall of 2,000 ounces in gold production.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground during trading on Tuesday following the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off Monday's record closing highs.

The major averages finished the day off their worst levels but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 153.30 points or 0.7 percent to 22,788.36, the S&P 500 fell 25.69 points or 0.4 percent to 6,714.59 and the Dow dipped 91.99 points or 0.2 percent to 46,602.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day roughly flat. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices crept slightly higher on Tuesday, despite forecasts of weakening oil demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.02 or 0.03 percent at $61.71 per barrel.