Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying falling well below the 7,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by technology stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 44.40 points or 0.57 percent to 7,774.70 after hitting a low of 7,748.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 46.60 points or 0.58 percent to 7,975.30. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday ahead of the holidays on Friday and Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is slipping more than 5 percent, Zip is declining almost 5 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent, Northern Star resources is adding more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is surging almost 6 percent, while Newmont is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing almost 1 to 0.2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.641 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Monday after turning in a lackluster performance to close out the previous week. The major averages all moved sharply lower, with the Dow adding to the steep loss posted last Thursday.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the end of the day but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 415.55 points or 2.6 percent to 15,870.90, the Dow tumbled 971.82 points or 2.5 percent to 38,170.41 and the S&P 500 slumped 124.50 points or 2.4 percent to 5,158.20.

Meanwhile, the major European markets were closed on the day in honor of Easter Monday.

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply Monday on reports of progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, while trade war concerns also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery plunged $1.60 or 2.5 percent to $63.08 a barrel.