Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,800 level, with losses in technology and financial stocks nearly offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 7,809.30, after hitting a low of 7,776.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 5.40 points or 0.07 percent to 8,066.10. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent. Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is surging almost 6 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing 1.5 percent and Appen is slipping almost 2 percent, while Zip and Xero are down more than 1 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 3 percent, while Northern Star resources and Resolute Mining are adding almost 2 percent each. Newmont is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday after an early move to the downside, but largely maintained a negative bias. The major averages all finished the day lower after ending last Friday's trading mixed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 44.35 points or 0.3 percent to 16,384.47, pulling back off the record closing high set in the previous session, while the S&P 500 dipped 15.99 points or 0.3 percent to 5,218.19 and the Dow slid 162.26 points or 0.4 percent to 39,313.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions after Ukraine continued to attack Russian refineries. A weak dollar amid expectations of interest rate cuts by central banks contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.32 or 1.64 percent at $81.95 a barrel.