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 to near the 8,950 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in financial, mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 116.50 points or 1.28 percent to 8,950.20, after hitting a low of 8,949.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 117.70 points or 1.27 percent to 9,143.20. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent, Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is tumbling more than 5 percent, Xero is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is declining more than 3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are sliding almost 5 percent each.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is slipping more than 4 percent and Newmont is declining more than 3 percent, while Genesis Minerals, Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are tumbling almost 5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more significant move to the downside during trading on Tuesday after moving moderately lower over the two previous sessions. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq slumped 271.11 points or 1 percent to 26,099.77, the Dow slid 419.02 points or 0.8 percent to 52,766.88 and the S&P 500 fell 54.67 points or 0.7 percent to 7,631.47. The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday after the U.S. launched another fresh wave of attacks on Iran following the recent exchange of strikes over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $4.27 or 4.98 percent at $90.03 per barrel.