Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by iron ore miners and financial stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot. The White House overnight confirmed that Australia would not be exempt from 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium exports to the US due to start on Wednesday afternoon.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 109.20 points or 1.38 percent to 7,780.90, after hitting a low of 7,766.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 108.80 points or 1.34 percent to 7,994.60. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Santos is gaining almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and Zip is declining almost 4 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Newmont are gaining more than 1 percent each. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks closed on a negative note on Tuesday after a highly volatile session, and the major averages all closed in the red despite a good recovery past mid-afternoon. Worries about global economic outlook and fears of a possible recession in the U.S. due to the trade war hurt investor sentiment.

The Dow settled lower by 478.23 points or 1.14 percent, at 41,433.48, the S&P 500 ended down 42.49 points or 0.76 percent, at 5,572.07 and the Nasdaq settled lower by 32.23 points or 0.18 percent, at 17,436.10. The Nasdaq climbed to 17,687.40 in the final hour, rallying from a low of 17,238.24.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 1.21 percent, Germany's DAX closed down 1.29 percent and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 1.31 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, bouncing back fairly well on a weaker dollar after dropping to six-month lows in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April added $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $66.25 a barrel.