(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,400 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, on lower crude oil prices and as traders worry about the coronavirus Omicron variant that is spreading in 40 countries, particularly in the U.K. where it reported the first confirmed death from the swiftly spreading strain.
Concerns are also rising domestically, with New South Wales reporting 804 new cases and one death on Monday, with a total on more than 55 Omicron cases. Victoria also reported 1,189 new cases and six deaths, with about seven suspected Omicron cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 9.80 points or 0.13 percent to 7,369.50, after hitting a low of 7,341.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 5.90 points or 0.08 percent to 7,691.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is adding almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 1 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.4 percent each. OZ Minerals is edging down 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Petroleum and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is flat and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent and ANZ Banking is flat, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.
Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 3 percent and Xero is up almost 2 percent, while Zip is losing almost 1 percent and Afterpay is declining almost 5 percent after its shareholders strongly supported the $39 billion deal to be bought by a U.S. fintech giant Square in the biggest takeover in Australian history.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent.
Travel stocks fell on Omicron concerns, with Qantas losing more than 1 percent, Flight Centre declining more than 2 percent, and Corporate Travel Management down almost 2 percent.
Shares in Woolworths are plunging more than 8 percent after the retail giant warned of higher costs in the first half and sees the worst first half in years.
Shares in Nearmap jumped more than 6 percent after it raised full-year revenue guidance.
Mesoblast shares are plummeting more than 15 percent on emerging from a trading halt after the company confirmed biotech giant Novartis will walk away from a planned investment and commercialisation deal worth about US$505 million.
Shares in Virus Health are soaring more than 31 percent after the IVF company received a $607 million takeover offer from BGH Group.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved notably lower during trading on Monday, giving back ground following the rally seen on Wall Street last week. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the drop.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell to new lows for the session going into the close of trading. The Dow slumped 320.04 points or 0.9 percent to 35,650.95, the Nasdaq plunged 217.32 points or 1.4 percent to 15,413.28 and the S&P 500 tumbled 43.05 points or 0.9 percent to 4,668.97.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid worries about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $0.38 or 0.5 percent at $71.29 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
