Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, following a flat closed in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,700 level, with weakness in financial and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 31.50 points or 0.36 percent to 8,697.10, after touching a high of 8,771.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 26.50 points or 0.29 percent to 9,008.20. Australian stocks closed nearly flat on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, while Fortescue is losing almost 2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is edging down 0.4 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent each. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 4 percent and Zip is gaining more than 2 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are adding almost 1 percent each. Appen is losing almost 3 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining and Northern Star resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent. Genesis Minerals is losing almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are all losing almost 2 percent each.

In economic news, the service sector in Australia continued to expand in December, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a services PMI score of 51.1. That's down from 52.8 in November, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, regaining ground following the slump seen during holiday-interrupted previous week. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Dow jumped 594.79 points or 1.2 percent to 48,977.18, the Nasdaq advanced 160.19 points or 0.7 percent to 23,395.82 and the S&P 500 climbed 43.58 points or 0.6 percent to 6,902.05.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday after OPEC reaffirmed its plans to pause production increases for early 2026, thereby allaying oversupply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $58.31 or 0.99 percent at $1.73 per barrel.