The Australian stock market is showing moderate losses on Tuesday after seeing slight gains in the previous session. The downturn follows negative cues from Wall Street. Most sectors noted a decline, particularly technology and mining stocks, although the benchmark ASX 200 is holding above 7,600.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has fallen by 11.10 points or 0.15% to 7,641.70, despite hitting a earlier low of 7,610.80. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index has dropped by 12.30 points or 0.16% to 7,895.80. It should be noted that Australian stocks closed on a slightly higher note on Monday.
Among major miners, Fortescue Metals fell by nearly 2%, followed by Rio Tinto which is down by more than 1%. BHP Group and Mineral Resources declined by roughly 1% and 0.3% respectively.
Oil stocks showed mixed results. Santos and Woodside Energy saw an increase of about 0.1% and 1% respectively, while Origin Energy and Beach energy lost over 1% each.
Tech stocks reported a significant drop with Zip plunging over 12%. Afterpay and Xero also slid more than 5% and edged down 0.1% respectively, even as WiseTech Global and Appen reported gains of more than 1% and 8%.
Gold miners predominantly showed a downward trend. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are nearly 2% and 3% down respectively. Resolute Mining is sliding almost 4%, Gold Road Resources is slipping by more than 1% and Newmont saw a fall of more than 3%.
Among the major four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking experienced minor increases ranging from 0.1 to 0.3%, while Westpac declined by 0.2%. In other market news, Alumina shares fell by over 7% following a net loss for the year and suspension of final dividend. However, Reece Group shares surged over 12% after declaring an interim dividend and a robust profit for the first half.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.653.
Reflecting on Wall Street's performance on Monday, the major averages closed negatively with investors remaining cautious ahead of major economic data releases. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq ended lower.
European markets performed poorly as well, with a decline in the UK's FTSE 100 by 0.29% and France's CAC 40 by 0.46%, while Germany's DAX experienced a slight increase of 0.02%.
Crude oil prices recovered early losses on Monday due to concerns over supply disruption following continued attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea route. Consequently, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April rose by $1.09 or 1.4% to $77.58 a barrel.
