FX.co ★ Australian Market Modestly Lower

Australian shares experienced a slight decline on Wednesday, retracing some of the advances from the past three sessions. The S&P/ASX 200 remained above the 8,200 mark, reflecting a mixed performance following cues from Wall Street. Energy and financial sector weaknesses were partly balanced by gains in iron ore mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 29.00 points, or 0.35%, to 8,220.20, after fluctuating between lows of 8,218.00 and highs of 8,024.50 earlier. Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased by 23.70 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 8,482.20. On Tuesday, Australian shares had closed modestly higher.

In the mining sector, major companies such as Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources climbed nearly 1% each, with Fortescue Metals advancing over 1% and BHP Group increasing by 1.5%.

Oil stocks predominantly experienced losses, with Origin Energy and Woodside Energy dipping between 0.2% and 0.3%, Beach Energy falling over 1%, and Santos down nearly 1%. In contrast, the technology sector saw varied movements; Block, the owner of Afterpay, dropped more than 1%, Zip fell close to 1%, and Xero edged down by 0.1%. However, Appen surged nearly 6%, and WiseTech Global edged upward by 0.4%.

Among Australia's major banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and ANZ Banking each saw declines of almost 1%, while Westpac edged down by 0.3%.

Gold mining stocks saw some upward momentum with Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources gaining more than 1% each. Gold Road Resources edged up by 0.4%, whereas Newmont and Resolute Mining fell nearly 2% and 1% respectively.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 0.2% seasonally adjusted increase in consumer prices for the third quarter of 2024, falling short of the anticipated 0.3% rise and down from 1.0% in the previous quarter. Inflation, on an annual basis, rose by 2.8%, surpassing the forecast of 2.3% but down from 3.8% in the second quarter. The trimmed mean rose 0.8% quarterly and 3.5% annually, while the weighted mean increased 0.9% quarterly and 3.8% annually.

In currency exchanges, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.656.

On Wall Street, Monday saw an upward trend in stocks; however, Tuesday closed with mixed results. The Nasdaq posted significant gains to reach a new record high, while the Dow experienced its sixth decline in seven sessions. The Nasdaq rose by 145.56 points, or 0.8%, to 18,712.75, extending its winning streak to four days; the S&P 500 also increased, adding 9.40 points or 0.2% to reach 5,832.92. In contrast, the Dow dropped by 154.52 points, or 0.4%, to 42,233.05.

In Europe, major indices moved downward, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declining by 0.8%, France's CAC 40 Index falling by 0.6%, and Germany's DAX Index decreasing by 0.3%.

Crude oil prices continued a downward trend on Tuesday amidst concerns over an oversupply relative to near-term demand, with West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December falling by $0.17, or approximately 0.25%, closing at $67.21 per barrel.