Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in gold miners and technology stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 17.60 points or 0.20 percent to 8,903.20, after touching a high of 8,951.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 20.30 points or 0.22 percent to 9,094.00. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, while Fortescue and Mineral Resources are up more than 1 percent each.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are declining almost 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Appen is down more than 1 percent. Zip is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent and National Australia bank is losing almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.4 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are slipping almost 3 percent each, while Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent, Genesis Minerals is down more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.722 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday with trading resuming following the long Labor Day weekend. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Dow showing a particularly steep decline.

The Dow slumped 628.18 points or 1.2 percent to 52,786.07, the S&P 500 fell 45.08 points or 0.6 percent to 7,673.52 and the Nasdaq dipped 85.58 points or 0.3 percent to 26,421.41. The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as U.S. forces and Iran continue to trade attacks, fueling supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was last up $1.31 or 1.43 percent at $92.79 per barrel.