Australian Markets Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,750 level, with weakness in mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.60 points or 0.55 percent to 8,742.70, after hitting a low of 8,733.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 48.40 points or 0.54 percent to 8,926.30. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue is down more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is slipping almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent and BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Santos is down almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.3 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent and Xero is adding more than 1 percent. Zip is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent, while Resolute Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping more than 1 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent and Westpac is down more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.700 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Monday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and into negative territory.

The major averages all finished the day in the red. The Dow slid 307.16 points or 0.6 percent to 51,839.26, the S&P 500 dipped 14.41 points or 0.2 percent to 7,443.28 and the Nasdaq edged down 12.17 points or 0.1 percent to 25,508.07. Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index are closed just above the unchanged line and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Monday as the U.S. and Iran continue to attack each other even as both sides appear ready to renew diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.39 or 0.47 percent at $82.88 per barrel.