Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are losing for the second straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying a tad above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders cautiously await Australia's monthly inflation data for more clues on the outlook for domestic monetary policy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.90 points or 0.44 percent to 7,007.30, after hitting a low of 7,002.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 29.90 points or 0.41 percent to 7,208.40. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 percent. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent. Zip and Appen are flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent. Commonwealth Bank and are flat.

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

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are plunging more than 13 percent after the embattled casino operator raised $565 million from institutional investors after offering new shares at $0.60 apiece.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, more than offsetting the moderate rebound seen during Monday's session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, falling to their lowest closing levels in over three months.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still posted steep losses. The Dow slumped 388.00 points or 1.1 percent to 33,618.88, the Nasdaq plunged 207.71 points or 1.6 percent to 13,063.61 and the S&P 500 tumbled 63.91 points or 1.5 percent to 4,273.53.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil futures moved back to the upside during trading on Tuesday as ongoing concerns about tight supplies overshadowed worries about the global economic outlook. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November delivery climbed $0.71 or 0.8 percent to $90.39 a barrel.