Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market moves on Wednesday after opening in the red and briefly treading into the green, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,850 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 34.30 points or 0.39 percent to 8,814.50, after hitting a low of 8,809.00 and a high of 8,86430 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 30.40 points or 0.33 percent to 9,105.50. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is tumbling more than 4 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.1 percent, while Fortescue is gaining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining more than 1 percent, Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is tumbling more than 6 percent, Appen is losing almost 2 percent, Xero is declining almost 1 percent and Zip is edging down 0.1 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is declining more than 1 percent. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, while Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent. Gold Road Resources is delisted after its acquisition by Gold Fields. Evolution Mining is flat

In other news, shares in Bravura Solutions are rocketing almost 18 percent after upgrading its earnings guidance for the full-year 2026.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.4. That's down from 51.6 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

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