Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,500 level from all-time highs, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, after domestic GDP data misses expectations, with weakness in financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology, mining and energy stocks amid higher commodity prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 41.30 points or 0.49 percent to 8,453.90, after hitting a low of 8,449.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.80 points or 0.40 percent to 8,719.90. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding 1.5 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Zip is gaining 1.5 percent, Appen is adding almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing 2.5 percent and Xero is edging up 0.4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining 2.5 percent and Newmont is adding more than 2 percent, while Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.5 percent each, Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, Australia's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent, although it was up from 0.2 percent in the previous three months. On an annualized basis, GDO was up 0.8 percent - again missing forecasts for a gain of 1.1 percent and down from 1.0 percent in the three months prior.

Meanwhile, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in November, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Wednesday, with a services PMI score of 50.5. That's down from 51.0 in October, 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 $0.646 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the mixed performance seen during Monday's session. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached new record closing highs.

The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Dow dipped 76.47 points or 0.2 percent to 44,705.53, the Nasdaq rose 76.96 points or 0.4 percent to 19,480.91 and the S&P 500 crept up 2.73 points or 0.1 percent to 6,049.88.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday on easing concerns about excess supply on hopes that OPEC will delay plans to return its production cuts by a few more months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.84 or 2.7 percent at $69.94 a barrel.