Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,900 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.30 points or 0.15 percent to 8,904.40, after hitting a low of 8,888.10 and a high of 8,925.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.10 points or 0.14 percent to 9,118.20. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are declining almost 3 percent each, while Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.1 percent. Zip is declining more than 1 percent and Xero is slipping almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are down almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources, Genesis Minerals and Newmont are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 4 percent.

In other news, shares in ARN Media are skyrocketing almost 29 percent after it reached a settlement on all legal proceedings with former star broadcaster Kyle Sandilands, agreeing to pay $12.09 million in cash and provide $1.5 million in advertising to end his association with the company.

Shares in Symal Group are jumping more than 9 percent after it agreed to acquire 100 per cent of Queensland-based Shamrock Civil in a $51 million upfront deal.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.707 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday following the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gave back ground, the narrower Dow climbed to a new record closing high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a significant pullback, slumping 307.60 points or 1.2 percent to 26,376.34. The S&P 500 also fell 42.94 points or 0.6 percent to 7,511.35, but the Dow rose 328.64 points or 0.6 percent to 51,999.67. Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday as transit disruption concerns faded due to the anticipated U.S.-Iran deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $4.90 or 6.07 percent at $75.85 per barrel.