Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with mixed performance across most sectors as traders cautiously await the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and accompanying statement later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.70 points or 0.14 percent to 6,797.60, after hitting a low of 6,791.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 14.20 points or 0.20 percent to 7,011.00. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.4 percent each, while OZ Minerals is edging up 0.5 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining 2.5 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 percent each.

In the tech space, Zip is surging almost 6 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is slipping more than 4 percent, Appen is edging down 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.1 percent. ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is advancing 1.5 percent. Northern Star Resources is adding more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.695 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative following the mixed performance seen during Monday's session. While the Nasdaq tumbled 220.09 points or 1.9 percent to 11,562.57, the S&P 500 slumped 45.79 points or 1.2 percent to 3,921.05 and the Dow slid 228.50 points or 0.7 percent to 31,761.54.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed nearly unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday, weighed by an announcement from the Biden administration about more sales from the national oil reserve to fight inflation at the pump. The dollar's rebound from recent losses also contributed the drop in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $1.72 or 1.8 percent at $94.98 a barrel.