Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,900 level, with weakness in gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 65.70 points or 0.73 percent to 8,893.60, after hitting a low of 8,895.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 63.30 points or 0.69 percent to 9,170.20. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are losing almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent, Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is declining almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Zip and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each. Appen is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday following back-to-back positive weeks. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing little changed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.80 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,629.77, the S&P 500 edged down 0.65 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,449.15 and the Dow slipped 34.30 points or 0.1 percent to 44,911.82.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed on Monday as investors focused their attention on the meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents amid rising geopolitical tensions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.60 or 0.96 percent at $63.40 per barrel.