Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,700 level, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 96.10 points or 1.09 percent to 8,707.80, after hitting a low of 8,676.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 97.60 points or 1.08 percent to 8,907.10. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 3 percent and Fortescue is slipping almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are down more than 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is advancing almost 4 percent, Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Santos is surging more than 5 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are down almost 1 percent each, while Zip is losing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 3 percent and Appen is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is declining almost 2 percent and National Australia bank is losing more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are down almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing more than 4 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is sliding almost 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 3 percent and Newmont is down more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.693 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks staged a recovery attempt in mid-day trading on Tuesday but moved back to the downside as the day progressed after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all finished the day in negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable decline.

The Nasdaq tumbled 302.47 points or 1.2 percent to 25,818.69, the S&P 500 fell 33.58 points or 0.5 percent to 7,503.85 and the Dow dipped 130.76 points or 0.3 percent to 52,925.15. The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index slumped by 1.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked on Tuesday as concerns of fresh U.S.-Iran conflicts surfaced after attacks on at least three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $2.01 or 2.93 percent at $70.56 per barrel.