Australian Markets Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Monday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,700.00 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.40 points or 0.25 percent to 8,680.40, after touching a high of 8,713.40 and a low of 8,677.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 23.10 points or 0.26 percent to 8,919.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday. Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 3 percent, BHP Group is advancing more than 3 percent, Fortescue is adding almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is up more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is slipping almost 2 percent and Zip is declining almost 3 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are tumbling more than 5 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 4 percent, Newmont is surging almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is jumping more than 5 percent, Genesis Minerals rising more than 6 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are declining almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.724 on Tuesday. On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday after turning in a strong performance last week. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly higher. The Dow rose 95.31 points or 0.2 percent to 49,704.47, the Nasdaq inched up 27.05 points or 0.1 percent to 26,274.13 and the S&P 500 edged up 13.91 points or 0.2 percent to 7,412.84. Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent. Crude oil prices surged after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's response to a U.S. proposal to end the months-long war, calling it "totally unacceptable" in a post on Truth Social. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $3.33 or 3.49 percent at $98.75 per barrel.

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Monday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,700.00 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.40 points or 0.25 percent to 8,680.40, after touching a high of 8,713.40 and a low of 8,677.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 23.10 points or 0.26 percent to 8,919.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 3 percent, BHP Group is advancing more than 3 percent, Fortescue is adding almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is up more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is slipping almost 2 percent and Zip is declining almost 3 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are tumbling more than 5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 4 percent, Newmont is surging almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is jumping more than 5 percent, Genesis Minerals rising more than 6 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent.