(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the slight losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as gold miners and technology stocks are weighing down the market.
Omicron worries also persists and investors looked ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting amid expectations the central bank will announce plans to accelerate its timetable for reducing bond purchases.
Domestically, New South Wales reported 1,360 new cases and one death on Tuesday, with a total on 110 Omicron cases. Victoria also reported 1,405 new cases and three deaths, with about seven suspected Omicron cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 37.50 points or 0.51 percent to 7,340.90, after hitting a low of 7,335.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.60 points or 0.62 percent to 7,650.70. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 percent each, while OZ Minerals is losing almost 1 percent. Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.4 percent each.
Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Petroleum and Origin Energy are edging up 0.3 percent each, while Santos is gaining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is flat. In the tech space, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is slipping more than 3 percent, while Afterpay, Appen and Xero are declining more than 2 percent each. Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent each. Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are declining almost 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is slipping 3.5 percent, Resolute Mining is down almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is losing more than 1 percent. Shares in CSL are still in a trading halt the pharmaceutical manufacturer announced it is buying Swisse pharmaceutical group Vifor in a $16.4 billion deal.
In economic news, consumer confidence in Australia held in positive territory in November, the latest survey from Westpac Bank revealed on Wednesday as its index for sentiment slipped 1.0 percent to a score of 104.3 - remaining above 100 and in the green.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Tuesday following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. With the drop, the S&P 500 continued to give back ground after ending last Friday's trading at a record closing high.
The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remained in negative territory. The Dow dipped 106.77 points or 0.3 percent to 35,544.18, the Nasdaq tumbled 175.64 points or 1.1 percent to 15,237.64 and the S&P 500 slid 34.88 points or 0.8 percent to 4,634.09.
The major European markets also moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index slumped 1.1 percent.
Crude oil futures dipped Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to renewed restrictions amid rising new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $0.56 or 0.8 percent at $70.73 a barrel.
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