Australian Markets Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, after the relatively flat close in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,800 level, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 26.60 points or 0.30 percent to 8,781.90, after hitting a low of 8,775.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 27.40 points or 0.30 percent to 8,975.60. Australian stocks closed relatively flat on Monday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources and BHP Group are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing almost 4 percent, Origin Energy is up more than 1 percent and Santos is adding more than 2 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent, Newmont is down almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining almost 2 percent, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are slipping more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are down almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable move to the downside during trading on Monday, giving back ground following the upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages all moved lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a significant pullback.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq slumped 408.43 points or 1.6 percent to 25,873.18 and the S&P 500 slid 60.05 points or 0.8 percent to 7,515.34. The narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, dipping 138.37 points or 0.3 percent to 52,498.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished a choppy trading day slightly higher. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid intense attacks between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend, renewing Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $6.87 or 9.62 percent at $78.28 per barrel.