Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing the 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 8,200 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks, after US President Donald Trump confirmed he will move forward with higher tariffs on major trading partners. Gold stocks are the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 83.70 points or 1.02 percent to 8,162.00, after hitting a low of 8,150.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 94.70 points or 1.12 percent to 8,384.10. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is sliding almost 9 percent, Rio Tinto is down 1.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 5 percent, while Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are down more than 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are losing more than 5 percent each, while Xero is down almost 2 percent, Zip is plunging more than 10 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.4 percent, Northern Star resources is up more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, while Newmont is losing almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

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

In economic news, retail sales in Australia increased by 0.3 percent month-on-month in January 2025, after a 0.1 percent decline in the previous month and matching market expectations.

Meanwhile, Australia's current account deficit declined to A$12.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 from a downwardly revised A$19.9 billion shortfall in the third quarter, indicating the seventh consecutive quarter of deficit despite missing market expectations of an A$11.9 billion gap.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.621 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 significant moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging to a four-month closing low.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq dove 497.09 points or 2.6 percent to 18,350.19, the S&P 500 tumbled 104.78 points or 1.8 percent to 5,849.72 and the Dow slumped 649.67 points or 1.5 percent to 43,191.24.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply to a near three-month low on Monday, weighed down by concerns about possible excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC and allies would go ahead with a plan of oil output increase in April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $1.39 or nearly 2 percent, at $68.37 a barrel.