Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near that 8,500 level, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

Traders are cautious ahead of the announcement of the first interest rate decision of the year by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) later in the day, where the RBA is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 35.90 points or 0.42 percent to 8,501.20, after hitting a low of 8,496.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.50 points or 0.39 percent to 8,777.40. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is losing more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent, Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Origin energy is edging down 0.3 percent. Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Zip is advancing almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent and Northern Star resources is down more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent, ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent, Westpac is declining almost 2 percent and National Australia Bank is down almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Hub24 are jumping more than 7 percent after the investment platform's profit soared 54 percent and boosted its interim dividend by 30 percent.

Shares in HMC Capital are soaring more than 12 percent after it reported assets under management rose 45 percent to $18.5 billion in the six months to December, with a significant profit contribution from its private equity division.

Aurizon lifted 1.6 per cent after the company resurrected the possibility of splitting its rail haulage and rail tracks businesses as earnings slide and the share price hovers close to historic lows

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.634 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Presidents Day on Monday after closing mixed on Friday.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.41 percent, Germany's DAX ended stronger by 1.26 percent and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.13 percent.

Crude oil prices were higher on Monday on the prospect of peace in Eastern Europe, as talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine are expected to begin in Saudi Arabia later in the week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil Futures for April settlement edged up 0.08 percent to close at $71.33 a barrel.