Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Reversing the gains in the previous three sessions, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,200 level, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 47.60 points or 0.58 percent to 8,222.20, after hitting a low of 8,220.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.90 points or 0.53 percent to 8,493.50. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Rio Tinto, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are declining 2.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Appen is soaring more than 9 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.3 percent each. Zip is edging down 0.4 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing 2.5 percent, Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping almost 2 percent and Northern Star resources is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent and Westpac is down more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Sigma Healthcare are rallying more than 13 precent after saying it would bring in data-sharing rules to help alleviate concerns by the regulator regarding its proposed $700 million merger with Chemist Warehouse.

Shares in Qantas are slipping almost 4 percent after rival airline Qatar Airways moved to buy a 25 percent stake in Virgin Australia.

Shares in REA Group are slipping more than 4 percent after confirming it would abandon bidding for Rightmove after the UK-listed real estate site knocked back REA Group's fourth bid in a matter of weeks.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in September, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 46.7. That's down from 48.5 in August and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday before eventually ending the day mostly higher. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory following the mixed performance seen last Friday.

The Dow inched up 17.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a new record closing high of 42,330.15, while the Nasdaq climbed 69.58 points or 0.4 percent to 18,189.17. The S&P 500 also rose 24.31 points or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 5,762.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 2.0 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices settled flat on Monday as uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand from China weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.01 at $68.17 a barrel.