Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 7,600 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by strong losses in mining stocks amid weaker metal prices.

Though the Reserve Bank of Australia held rates steady as widely expected, it warned that a further interest rate hike is possible due to persistently high inflation.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.20 points or 0.63 percent to 7,610.80, after hitting a low of 7,599.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 48.90 points or 0.62 percent to 7,862.60. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining almost 4 percent, BHP Group slipping more than 3 percent and Rio Tinto is down almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is losing almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is adding 1.5 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.1 percent, Appen is advancing almost 4 percent, Xero is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is soaring 11.5 percent. Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is edging down 0.1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newmont, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Woolworths are tumbling 9 percent after supermarket giant announced that chief executive Brad Banducci is stepping down after 13 years at the helm.

Shares in Corporate Travel Management are plummeting 18 percent after the travel agency's half-year results missed expectations.

In economic news, Australia's wage price index was up a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was in line with expectations and down from 1.3 percent in the three months prior.

On a yearly basis the wage price index climbed 4.2 percent - exceeding estimates for 4.1 percent and unchanged from the previous three months.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, extending the pullback seen during last Friday's session. The Nasdaq showed a notable move to the downside amid weakness among tech stocks.

The major averages ended the day in negative territory but off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq slumped 144.87 points or 0.9 percent to 15,630.78, the S&P 500 fell 30.06 points or 0.6 percent to 4,975.51 and the Dow dipped 64.19 points or 0.2 percent to 38,563.80.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Tuesday, reflecting ongoing concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery slumped $1.01 to $78.18 a barrel, while the more actively traded crude for April delivery tumbled $1.42 to $77.04 a barrel.