Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,700 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in iron ore miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 25.00 points or 0.29 percent to 8,710.70, after touching a high of 8,753.90 and a low of 8,717.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 24.30 points or 0.27 percent to 8,879.20. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is declining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Fortescue is slipping almost 2 percent.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Xero is up more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent. Appen is slipping more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are down more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Genesis Minerals and Newmont are adding almost 1 percent each. Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in SKS Technologies are tumbling more than 12 percent following a major on-market share sale by the company's executive leadership and founding family.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but continued to turn in a strong performance after showing a notable move the upside early in the session. The major averages extended a recent upward trend, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory but well off their highs of the session. The S&P 500 climbed 44.98 points or 0.6 percent to 7,818.93, the Nasdaq rose 122.48 points or 0.5 percent to 27,599.79 and the Dow increased 253.38 points or 0.5 percent to 51,521.28. The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices came off of early lows but still ticked lower on Tuesday following reports that Middle East crude exports are recovering back up toward pre-war levels. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.18 or 0.2 percent at $89.25 a barrel.