Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 31.20 points or 0.35 percent to 8,784.70, after hitting a low of 8,765.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 36.00 points or 0.39 percent to 9,102.60. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue are edging down 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Origin Energy is advancing almost 2 percent and Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are declining almost 3 percent each, while Appen and WiseTech Global are losing almost 2 percent each. Xero is tumbling more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are losing more than 1 percent each, while National Australia bank and Commonwealth Bank are down almost 2 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is surging almost 7 percent, Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Newmont is advancing almost 3 percent and Genesis Minerals is up more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Paladin Energy are soaring more than 13 percent after the uranium producer announced that uranium production increased 16 percent from last quarter, and sales volumes also more than doubled.

In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index for Australia edged up 0.1 percent on month in December 2025, following a flat reading in the previous month. Meanwhile, the six-month annualized growth rate rose to 0.42 percent from 0.20 percent in November.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.673 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday after ending last Friday's choppy trading session modestly lower. The major averages all moved sharply lower, adding to the losses posted last week.

The major averages saw further downside late in the session, closing near their worst levels of the day. The Dow slumped 870.74 points or 1.8 percent to 48,488.59, the Nasdaq plunged 561.07 points or 2.4 percent to 22,954.32 and the S&P 500 tumbled 143.15 points or 2.1 percent to 6,796.86.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.0 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as traders assessed the renewed tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump against European nations. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.96 or 1.62 percent at $60.40 per barrel.