Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by materials and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.50 points or 0.67 percent to 7,186.20, after hitting a low of 7,159.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.70 points or 0.64 percent to 7,376.40. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Appen is plunging more than 9 percent, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Zip is declining almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Xero is adding almost 2 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is slipping more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are declining almost 2 percent each.

In other news, shares in James Hardie are up almost 2 percent after the building products company reported a full-year profit that topped expectations.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, giving back ground after ending Monday's session mostly higher. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Dow showing a particularly steep drop.

The Dow and the S&P 500 fell to new lows for the session going into the close of trading. The Dow slumped 336.46 points or 1.0 percent to 33,012.14, the S&P 500 slid 26.38 points or 0.6 percent to 4,109.90 and the Nasdaq dipped 22.16 points or 0.2 percent to 12,343.05.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following disappointing Chinese data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.25 or 0.4 percent at $70.86 a barrel.