Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 6,700 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by plunging technology stocks, partially offset by strength in energy and materials stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 14.50 points or 0.22 percent to 6,672.60, after hitting a low of 6,663.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.30 points or 0.19 percent to 6.874.70. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent. BHP Group and OZ Minerals are adding almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are advancing more than 2 percent each. Oil stocks are higher, with Beach energy gaining more than 4 percent, Santos adding almost 3 percent, Woodside Energy advancing almost 4 percent and Origin Energy up more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is plunging more than 4 percent, Xero is declining almost 4 percent, Zip is down more than 3 percent and Appen is slipping almost 3 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent. Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is flat and ANZ Banking is still in a trading halt. Westpac is edging down 0.5 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.3 percent.

In other news, shares in JB Hi-Fi are up almost 3 percent after the electronics retailer reported record earnings and revenues for fiscal 2022 as shoppers returned to stores.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its July 5 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the central bank hiked its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points, from 0.85 percent to 1.35 percent, citing the resilience of the economy and higher inflation. The bank also increased the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances by 50 basis points to 1.25 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.681 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Monday but saw a substantial downturn over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and into negative territory.

After surging by more than 350 points early in the session, the Dow fell 215.65 points or 0.7 percent to 31,072.61. The Nasdaq also slumped 92.37 points or 0.8 percent to 11,360.05, while the S&P 500 slid 32.31 points or 0.8 percent to 3,830.85.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both advanced by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday with traders assessing crude supply levels amid concerns over gas supply from Russia. A weak dollar also contributed significantly to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $5.01 or 5.1 percent at $102.60 a barrel.