On Wednesday, Australian shares took a significant downturn, surrendering some of the growth from the previous two sessions. The key S&P/ASX 200 index dropped below the 7,800 mark influenced by the generally negative trend in worldwide markets. This decline was primarily led by mining and energy stocks due to falling commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index itself saw a loss of 88.90 points, equivalent to a 1.16 percent decrease, standing at 7,575.20. It even touched a low of 7,556.50 earlier. Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased by 94.10 points or 1.19 percent to 7,837.90. It should be noted that on Tuesday, the Australian stocks saw a modest rise.
Examining individual sectors, major mining companies including Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals saw a loss of over 2 percent each. Similarly, BHP Group and Rio Tinto experienced a decline of nearly 2 percent each. The oil sector also primarily reported losses with Woodside Energy and Beach Energy down by more than 2 percent each. Meanwhile, Origin Energy reduced by 0.5 percent and Santos fell by nearly 2 percent.
In the tech sector, major firms including Afterpay owner Block and Zip had losses exceeding 2 percent each while Xero dipped by almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global fell by over 3 percent. Only Appen showed slight growth, of nearly 1 percent.
Looking at the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and ANZ Banking experienced losses of almost 1 percent each, and the National Australia Bank saw a slight decrease of 0.5 percent.
Gold mining firms Newmont and Resolute Mining reported losses exceeding 2 percent each, and Evolution Mining fell nearly 4 percent. Furthermore, Northern Star Resources fell by over 3 percent, and Gold Road Resources dropped by close to 5 percent.
In economic developments, Judo Bank's recent survey revealed that Australia's manufacturing sector continued to contract in April. However, the contraction pace has slowed down, evident from a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6, up from 47.3 in March but still below the significant 50 mark distinguishing expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar stood at $0.647 on Wednesday.
Internationally, Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday due to inflation concerns and uncertainties surrounding the Fed's interest rate policies. Major indexes all ended up significantly lower with Nasdaq enduring the highest loss.
European markets also reported losses with the UK's FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX, and France's CAC 40 decreasing by 0.04 percent, 1.03 percent, and 0.99 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices trended downward on Tuesday, influenced by the stronger dollar, increased crude production in the US, and concerns over economic growth and the future oil demand. Consequently, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended with a decrease of $0.70, arriving at $81.93 per barrel.
