Australian Market Slightly Lower

Extending the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is slightly lower in chopping trading on Tuesday after opening in the green, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,600 level, with traders reacting to some disappointing corporate earnings news.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 2.70 points or 0.04 percent to 7,612.20, after hitting a low of 7,599.00 and a high of 7,632.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 3.70 points or 0.05 percent to 7,856.60. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 2 percent, while Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, Xero is edging down 0.4 percent and Zip is declining almost 3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent and. Appen is gaining adding 1.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Northern Star resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is adding almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Seek plunged almost 10 percent after the job listing site reported a decline in first-half profit as its customer volumes slipped back to pre-pandemic levels.

Shares in Breville plummeted almost 13 percent despite a 6.7 percent rise in profit amid a subdued consumer backdrop.

Shares in Seven West Media tumbled more than 9 percent after reporting a 53 per cent drop in TV advertising revenue.

Share in Strike Energy plummeted more than 26 percent on news its South Erregulla-3 site in the Perth Basin failed to flow.

Online-only furniture retailer Temple & Webster climbed almost 12 percent after revenue rose 23 percent driven by growth in repeat and new customers.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged before eventually closing narrowly mixed. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 had been poised to set new record closing highs but pulled back into negative territory in afternoon trading.

While the Nasdaq fell 48.12 points or 0.3 percent to 15,942.55 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.77 points or 0.1 percent to 5,021.84, the Dow rose 125.69 points or 0.3 percent to a record closing high of 38,797.38.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Monday as demand concerns outweighed potential supply disruptions. The dollar’s recovery from lower levels also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $76.92 a barrel, up $0.08 from the previous close.

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