Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,550 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across all sectors led by in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 81.00 points or 0.94 percent to 8,549.30, after hitting a low of 8,544.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 78.50 points or 0.88 percent to 8,796.80. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent, Fortescue metals is down almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are down almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing 2.5 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent and Zip is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen and Xero are flat.

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

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 5 percent and Gold Road Resources is down more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Tuesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session before eventually closing mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 37.47 points or 0.2 percent to a new record closing high of 20,677.80, the S&P 500 fell 24.80 points or 0.4 percent to 6,243.76 and the Dow slumped 436.36 points or 1.0 percent to 44,023.29.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index decreased by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell modestly on Tuesday as the previously predicted supply-side pressure from Russia due to President Donald Trump's sanctions waned with his 50-day ultimatum. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.46 at $66.52 per barrel.