Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up most of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with traders cautiously awaiting the US Fed's rate decision and anticipated hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell later today.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 78.40 points or 1.15 percent to 6,728.00, after hitting a low of 6,724.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 80.20 points or 1.14 percent to 6,949.80. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is declining almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

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

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

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are declining almost 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is sliding 2.5 percent, Evolution Mining is plunging more than 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable move back to the downside during trading on Tuesday following the advance seen going into the close of Monday's session. With the pullback on the day, the major averages fell to their lowest closing levels in two months.

The major averages climbed off their lows of the session in late-day trading but remained firmly negative. The Dow tumbled 313.45 points or 1.0 percent to 30,706.23, the Nasdaq slumped 109.97 points or 1.0 percent to 11,425.05 and the S&P 500 dove 43.96 points or 1.1 percent to 3,855.93.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns about interest rate hikes and worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for October ended lower by $1.28 or 1.5 percent at $84.45 a barrel on expiration day.