Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Giving up the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,100 level, with losses across most sectors, led by technology stocks. Mining and energy stocks are also weak amid tumbling commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 57.80 points or 0.81 percent to 7,066.90, after hitting a low of 7,053.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 62.10 points or 0.85 percent to 7,274.00. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is down more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are down more than 1 percent each, while Santos is losing almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent, Appen is declining 5.5 percent, Zip is slipping almost 4 percent and Xero is down almost 2 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources is losing more than 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is down almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining 5.5 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 2 percent. Evolution Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable move to the downside in early trading on Monday, giving back ground after turning in a strong performance last Friday. The major averages subsequently climbed well off their worst levels but still ended the day in negative territory.

The Nasdaq slid 119.54 points or 0.8 percent to 14,185.49 and the S&P 500 fell 24.85 points or 0.5 percent to 4,569.78, while the narrower Dow edged down 41.06 points or 0.1 percent to 36,204.44 after falling more than 200 points early in the session.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day narrowly mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by less than 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday, pushing the most active futures contract to a nearly three-week low amid worries about the outlook for demand and skepticism about OPEC output cuts. The dollar's rise also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.03 or 1.4 percent at $73.04 a barrel, the lowest settlement since November 16.