Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming is early losses in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,700 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by some gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 25.10 points or 0.29 percent to 8,672.60, after hitting a low of 8,643.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 29.30 points or 0.33 percent to 8,934.20. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, Fortescue is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, Woodside Energy is adding 1.5 percent and Santos is gaining more than 1 percent, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Appen is declining more than 3 percent and Zip is down more than 2 percent. Xero is edging up 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star resources is edging up 0.2 percent, Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 2 percent, while Newmont is losing almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Viva Energy are plunging more than 9 percent after flagging lower earnings on weak convenience sales and refining margins.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Tuesday.