Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to be a tad above the 7,700 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 19.60 points or 0.25 percent to 7,704.60, after hitting a low of 7,695.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 28.30 points or 0.35 percent to 7,960.00. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent and BHP Group is declining more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are declining more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is losing 1.5 percent. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent, Xero is slipping almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent, while Appen is surging more than 8 percent and Zip is soaring more than 9 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent. Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent.
In economic news, Australia\'s gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.2% on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the three months prior. On an annualized basis, GDP advanced 1.5 percent - exceeding expectations for 1.4 percent but slowing from 2.1 percent in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$35.723billion. That was in line with expectations following the 2.7 percent slump in December. On a yearly basis, sales also rose 1.1 percent. Total online retailing sales were A$3.998 billion in January, up 1.5 percent on month.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen during the previous session. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 267.92 points or 1.7 percent to 15,939.59, the S&P 500 tumbled 52.30 points or 1.0 percent to 5,078.65 and the Dow slumped 404.64 points or 1.0 percent to 38,585.19.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.\'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, falling for the second consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.59 at $78.15 a barrel.