Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with a mixed a trend across most sectors. Financial stocks were particularly weak. Traders were reacting to the beginning of the trade war between the U.S. and its major trading partners. The U.S. imposed tariffs by U.S. on Canada, Mexico and China, with China and Canada putting in place retaliatory measures in the form of tariffs.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 71.90 points or 0.88 percent to 8,126.20, after hitting a low of 8,130.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 75.30 points or 0.89 percent to 8,345.60. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Appen is advancing more than 6 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent, while Xero is losing 1.5 percent, Zip is declining more than 2 percent and Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 5 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.4 percent, while Resolute Mining is advancing more than 3 percent and Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

In economic news, Australia's economy grew by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, accelerating from a 0.3 percent expansion in the previous quarter and surpassing market expectations of 0.5 percent.

The S&P Global Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 50.8 in February, down from 51.2 in January, signaling continued growth in business activity for the thirteenth month, though at a slower pace.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.626 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks staged a valiant recovery attempt over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply lower early in the session, only to once again come under pressure going into the close.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 65.03 points or 0.4 percent at 18,285.16 after plunging by as much as 2.1 percent to a nearly five-month intraday low. The S&P 500 briefly reached positive territory but closed down 71.57 points or 1.2 percent at a four-month closing low of 5,776.15. The Dow also slumped 670.25 points or 1.6 percent to 42,520.99.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. While the German DAX Index plunged by 3.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dove by 1.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday amid concerns about possible excess supply in the market after OPEC and allies decided to go ahead with their plans of increasing crude output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed down $0.11 or about 0.2 percent at $68.26 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.