The Australian stock market is experiencing a marked decline on Tuesday, extending its losses into a second session, driven by the broadly negative indicators from Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 index is dipping below the 8,200 benchmark, with a broad-based weakness across sectors, particularly in mining and technology stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has fallen by 61.10 points, or 0.74%, landing at 8,173.90, after reaching a low of 8,173.50 earlier on. Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries Index is down by 59.80 points, or 0.70%, to 8,436.20. The Australian market saw a slight decline on Monday as well.
In the mining sector, major companies such as BHP Group are seeing declines of over 1%, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are both down close to 1%. However, Mineral Resources has gained slightly, up by 0.5%.
Oil stocks present a mixed picture: Beach Energy is marginally down by 0.4%, while Santos and Woodside Energy are experiencing modest gains between 0.2% and 0.3%. Origin Energy remains stable with no change.
Technical stocks are under pressure, with Block—owner of Afterpay—down more than 2%, Zip falling over 1%, WiseTech Global decreasing by nearly 1%, and Xero slightly down by 0.3%. Conversely, Appen has edged up by 0.4%.
Gold mining companies are predominantly in decline, with Gold Road Resources down almost 1%, Newmont dropping over 2%, and both Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining falling by over 1%. Resolute Mining is an exception, gaining over 1%.
In the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are both down nearly 1%, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are slightly down by 0.5% each.
In more positive news, Mesoblast shares have surged nearly 10% following the U.S. FDA's recent approval of its mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy.
In foreign exchange markets, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.622 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, after a sharp early decline on Monday, stocks regained some ground but still closed firmly in negative territory, adding to the significant losses from the previous Friday. The Dow recovered from its worst levels after an over 700-point drop, closing down 418.48 points, or 1.0%, at 42,573.73. The Nasdaq fell by 235.25 points, or 1.2%, ending at 19,486.78, and the S&P 500 decreased by 63.90 points, or 1.1%, to close at 5,906.94.
European markets followed a similar downtrend on the day. The French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.6%, while the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.4%.
Crude oil prices escalated to a five-week peak on Monday, buoyed by recent data indicating a larger-than-expected decrease in U.S. crude inventories and anticipated demand growth from China. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for February increased by 0.6%, reaching $70.99 per barrel.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
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