Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 72.30 points or 0.84 percent to 8,564.10, after hitting a low of 8,559.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 77.30 points or 0.87 percent to 8,838.40. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is declining almost 2 percent, Fortescue is down almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent each. Santos is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are losing almost 3 percent each, while Zip is declining almost 4 percent, Appen is down more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is tumbling almost 5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources, Newmont, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is declining 1.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in James Hardie are advancing more than 6 percent after upgraded its full-year sales and earnings guidance after posting upbeat second-quarter results.

Shares in Plenti Group are surging almost 7 percent after posting a sharp jump in first-half profit as loan originations hit fresh records across all divisions.

Shares in TechnologyOne are tumbling more than 13 percent following its full-year results, despite announcing a special dividend of 10 cents and a profit rise of 17 percent.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on November 4. At the meeting, the RBA held its cash rate at 3.60 percent, as widely expected. The bank had reduced the rate by 25 basis points each in August, May and February. The current 3.60 percent is the lowest since March 2023 as board members observed that some inflationary pressure may remain in the economy.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, falling to their lowest closing levels in a month.

The major averages climbed off their lows going into the end of the day but remained firmly negative. The Dow tumbled 557.24 points or 1.2 percent to 46,590.24, the Nasdaq slid 192.51 points or 0.8 percent to 22,708.07 and the S&P 500 slumped 61.70 points or 0.9 percent to 6,672.41.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as long-term oversupply concerns of a supply-demand mismatch continue to linger. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery dipped $0.09 or 0.13 percent at $60.01 per barrel.