Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by weakness in financial and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 3.30 points or 0.05 percent to 7,255.10, after hitting a low of 7,216.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 3.40 points or 0.05 percent to 7,454.60. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent. OZ Minerals is edging down 0.1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Santos is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Xero and Appen ares losing almost 2 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block and Zip are gaining almost 1 percent each. WiseTech Global is declining almost 3 percent. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are down almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are adding almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australia's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. This was shy of expectation for an increase of 0.8 percent and down from the upwardly revised 0.7 percent gain in the previous three months (originally 0.6 percent). On an annualized basis, GDP was up 2.7 percent - in line with expectations and down from 5.9 percent in the three months prior.

The manufacturing sector in Australia moved into expansion territory in February, the latest survey from Judo Bank showed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.5. That's up from the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion from contraction in January.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after ending the previous session modestly higher. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow slid 232.39 points or 0.7 percent to 32,656.70, ending the session at its lowest closing level in well over three months. The S&P 500 fell 12.09 points or 0.3 percent to 3,970.15, while the Nasdaq edged down 11.44 points or 0.1 percent to 11,455.54.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a strong move back to the upside on Tuesday following the pullback a day earlier, thanks to optimism about increased demand from China. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $1.37 or 1.8 percent to $77.05 a barrel.