Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 18.20 points or 0.25 percent to 7,258.30, after hitting a low of 7,239.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 19.70 points or 0.26 percent to 7,452.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent. Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent, Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent and Santos is slipping almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are losing almost 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.3 percent. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing almost 2 percent each and ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.678 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday, following the significant rebound seen during last Friday's session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed. While the Dow edged down 55.69 points or 0.2 percent to 33,618.69, the S&P 500 crept up 1.87 points or 0.1 percent to 4,138.12 and the Nasdaq rose 21.50 points or 0.2 percent to 12,256.92.

The major European markets also turned in a lackluster performance on the day. While the U.K. markets were closed on the day, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand thanks to last week's fairly encouraging non-farm payrolls data. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.82 or 2.6 percent at $73.16 a barrel.