Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower 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 mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by some gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 29.40 points or 0.34 percent to 8,668.30, after hitting a low of 8,643.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 30.70 points or 0.34 percent to 8,932.80. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each. Beach energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Newmont is losing almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Northern Star resources is slipping almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

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

In other news, shares in Viva Energy are plunging almost 11 percent after flagging lower earnings on weak convenience sales and refining margins.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Monday after moving modestly higher early in the session. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The Nasdaq rose 70.27 points or 0.3 percent to 21,178.58 and the S&P 500 inched up 1.13 points or less than a tenth of percent to 6,389.77, while the narrower Dow edged down 64.36 points or 0.1 percent to 44,837.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved mostly lower over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index slid by 1.0 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index the French CAC 40 Index both fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday after the US announced a tariff framework agreement with the EU, cooling fears of a big tariff war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery jumped $1.72 or 2.64 percent to $66.88 per barrel.