(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 mark, following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in materials, energy and financial stocks. The rising geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine is weighing on market sentiment.
Meanwhile, concerns over the domestic COVID-19 cases have softened as the daily new cases are on a steady decline. New South Wales reported 8,201 new cases and 16 deaths on Monday and Victoria also reported 8,162 new cases and 20 deaths. Queensland recorded 5,286 new cases and 10 deaths, South Australia reported 1,138 new cases and Tasmania reported 513 new cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 27.70 points or 0.38 percent to 7,216.20, after hitting a low of 7,198.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.80 points or 0.44 percent to 7,502.30. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is slipping 2.5 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent, while OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent and BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent after reporting strong first half results on strong commodity prices and announcing an interim dividend.
Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum is declining almost 2 percent, Santos is slipping 2.5 percent and Beach energy is plunging almost 8 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing almost 2 percent, ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.3 percent. National Australia Bank is flat.
Among tech stocks, Zip and Xero are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Block is gaining more than 4 percent. Appen and WiseTech Global are flat. Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent. Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are flat.
In other news, shares in Sims Ltd are soaring almost 17 percent after the scrap metal merchant reported strong results for the first half that beat market expectations, driven by growth in trading margin. Sims also more than tripled its dividend.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on February 1. At the meeting, the RBA decided to discontinue the bond purchase program and left its key rate unchanged at a record low of 0.10 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.713 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday before ending the day mostly lower. With the continued decrease on the day, the major averages extended the sell-off seen last Thursday and Friday.
The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down just 0.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 13,709.92. The Dow fell 171.89 points or 0.5 percent to 34,566.17 and the S&P 500 dropped 16.97 points or 0.4 percent at 4,401.67.
The major European markets also showed notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index dove by 2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on rising concerns that Russia could attack Ukraine in the near future. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.5 percent at $95.46 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2014.
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