Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness in mining stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks amid a spike in crude oil prices.

The Australian dollar also tumbled after the RBA held interest rates for a third straight month.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 17.70 points or 0.24 percent to 7,296.60, after hitting a low of 7,291.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is 18.00 points or 0.24 percent to 7,498.80. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent, while BHP Group is edging up 0.2 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining 1.5 percent, Santos is adding almost 2 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent and Appen is gaining almost 1 percent, while Zip is losing 2.5 percent, Xero is declining almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent. Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent. Westpac is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are declining more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing 1.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is down more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Orora are plunging almost 20 percent after the bottle maker competed a $1.35 billion equity raise to fund the buyout of France's Saverglass.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.637 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Tuesday, after posting some strong gains last week. The major averages all ended in negative territory, although the Nasdaq managed to see a few brief spells above the flat line.

The Dow ended with a loss of 195.74 points or 0.56 percent at 34,641.97. The S&P 500 settled lower by 18.94 points or 0.42 percent at 4,496.83, while the Nasdaq finished with a marginal loss of 10.86 points or 0.08 percent at 14,020.95.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended down 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both ended lower by 0.34 percent. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.23 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they will extend their voluntary production cuts by three months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.14 or about 1.3 percent at $86.69 a barrel.