Australian Market Slips To Slight Loss In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slipping to a slight loss in mid-market moves on Wednesday after opening in the green, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to 8,550 level, with weakness in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.60 points or 0.05 percent to 8,550.00, after touching a high of 8,577.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 4.20 points or 0.05 percent to 8,770.30. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is down almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is slipping almost 1 percent, Fortescue metals is losing more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is tumbling almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Appen is surging almost 8 percent and Xero are edging up 0.4 percent. WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

In other news, shares in DroneShield are skyrocketing more than 21 percent after it revealed that it has secured the largest order in its history. It has received a package of three standalone follow-on contracts worth $61.6 million from its privately owned in-country European reseller.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Wednesday.