Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market trading on Tuesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,800 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, financial and energy stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 59.00 points or 0.67 percent to 8,790.60, after hitting a low of 8,786.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 57.40 points or 0.63 percent to 9,069.50. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.5 percent. Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are declining almost 1 percent each.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is surging more than 9 percent. Newmont is edging down 0.3 percent.

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

ANZ announced plans to cut 3500 staff or about 10 percent of its workforce in Australia, and 1000 contractors over the next 12 months as part of its plan to "simplify the bank."

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index dropped 3.1 percent on month to 95.4 in September 2025, reversing August's 5.7 percent gain when the index reached 98.5, the highest in more than 3 years. The 12-month outlook was down 8.9 perent to 92.2 and the 5-year outlook was 5.9 percent lower at 92.7.

Australia's NAB Business Confidence Index also fell to a three-month low of 4 in August 2025, down from an upwardly revised 8 in the prior month, which had been the highest since August 2022.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Tuesday.