Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Reversing the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to stay above the 8,100 level, with weakness across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.80 points or 0.50 percent to 8,123.80, after hitting a low of 8,116.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 42.80 points or 0.51 percent to 8,380.00. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 2 percent and Xero is declining more than 1 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star resources is edging down 0.1 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent. Evolution Mining and Newmont are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all losing almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 4.35 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday after turning in a strong performance during last Friday's session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow underperformed its counterparts, sliding 257.59 points or 0.6 percent to 41,794.60. The Nasdaq fell 59.93 points or 0.3 percent to 18,179.98 and the S&P 500 dipped 16.11 points or 0.3 percent to 5,712.69.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by OPEC's decision to delay plans to increase production, and on rising concerns about tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $1.98 or about 2.85% at $71.47 a barrel, extending gains to a fourth straight session.