The Australian stock market experienced a notable decline on Tuesday, reversing gains from the previous session. This downturn aligns with the broadly negative trends observed on Wall Street the night before. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is struggling to maintain its position above the 8,100 mark, showing weakness predominantly in technology and financial sectors. Specifically, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has decreased by 40.80 points, or 0.50%, reaching 8,123.80 after an earlier low of 8,116.00. Similarly, the All Ordinaries Index is down by 42.80 points, or 0.51%, at 8,380.00. The Australian market had closed significantly higher on Monday.
Focusing on major mining companies, BHP Group is slightly down by 0.3%, while both Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals have dropped nearly 1% each. In contrast, Mineral Resources is seeing a considerable rise, gaining more than 3%.
In the oil sector, stocks are mainly trending lower. Origin Energy, Woodside Energy, and Santos have declined between 0.1% and 0.4% each, whereas Beach Energy has edged up by 0.4%.
Among technology stocks, Zip has seen a drop of almost 3%, WiseTech Global is down by nearly 2%, and Xero has decreased by more than 1%. Conversely, Appen is up by more than 1%, and Block, the owner of Afterpay, remains steady.
Gold mining stocks present a mixed picture. Gold Road Resources is down by more than 1%, Northern Star Resources is slightly down by 0.1%, while Resolute Mining has gained almost 1%. Evolution Mining and Newmont have not shown any movement.
The big four Australian banks—Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking, and National Australia Bank—each report nearly a 1% decrease.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to conclude its monetary policy meeting by announcing its decision on interest rates. Market expectations are that the RBA will retain its benchmark lending rate at 4.35%.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.658 on Tuesday.
Turning to Wall Street, stocks lacked clear direction on Monday, despite Friday's strong performance. The major indices fluctuated around the unchanged line before ultimately closing in negative territory. The Dow was the weakest performer, dropping 257.59 points or 0.6% to 41,794.60. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 59.93 points or 0.3% to 18,179.98, and the S&P 500 lost 16.11 points or 0.3% to finish at 5,712.69.
In Europe, market performances were mixed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index saw a slight increase of 0.1%, whereas the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Crude oil prices surged on Monday, fueled by OPEC's decision to postpone increased production plans and heightened concerns over Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December rose by $1.98, or about 2.85%, closing at $71.47 a barrel, marking the fourth consecutive session of gains.
