Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 8,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in iron ore miners and energy stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners. Weak business activity data dampened investor sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 10.60 points or 0.13 percent to 7,960.50, after hitting a low of 7,944.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.50 points or 0.12 percent to 8,199.10. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Beach energy is losing more than 2 percent and Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent and Xero is edging up 0.3 percent. Zip and WiseTech Global are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is gaining 3.5 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.3 percent, while Evolution Mining. Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are adding more than 1 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in July, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.4. That's up from 47.2 in June, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The report also showed that the services PMI dipped to 50.8 from 51.2 in June. The composite index fell to 50.2 from 50.7 in June.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the strong upward move seen in the previous session.

The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow slipped 57.35 points or 0.1 percent to 40,358.09, the Nasdaq edged down 10.22 points or 0.1 percent to 17,997.35 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.67 points or 0.2 percent to 5,555.74.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell to near seven-week lows on Tuesday as investors brace for a likely drop in demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.44 or 1.83 percent at $76.96 a barrel, the lowest settlement since June 7.