Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,550 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

Financial stocks are weak after the Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected decision to hold interest rates at 3.85 percent.

US President Donald Trump also ramped up his protectionist trade war by threatening 50 percent tariffs on copper imports, which is expected to hit mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto who jointly own the Escondida mine in Chile, which is the world's largest producer of copper concentrates and cathodes. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 59.30 points or 0.69 percent to 8,531.40, after hitting a low of 8,531.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 58.60 points or 0.66 percent to 8,770.10. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are adding almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 3 percent, Zip is slipping more than 4 percent, Appen is losing almost 2 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are tumbling more than 7 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining more than 3 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 5 percent and Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Lifestyle Communities are plummeting more than 29 percent after the retirement communities company was hit by a tribunal decision that found its lucrative deferred management fees, or exit fees, charged to residents were invalid under state tenancy laws.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the sharp pullback seen during Monday's session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 5.95 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 20,418.46, the S&P 500 edged down 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 6,225.52 and the Dow fell 165.60 points or 0.4 percent to 44,240.76.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both increased by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday on concerns over disruptions to the oil supply lines due to Houthi attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up by $0.40 at $68.33 per barrel.