Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,600 level, following the mostly negative cues overnight from global markets, with materials, energy and technology stocks leading the losses.

Traders remain cautious ahead of the U.S. interest rate decision later today. The Fed is expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points, although forecasts are suggesting a 75-bp increase. There are fears that aggressive rate tightening would push the world's largest economy into recession.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe also said consumer price inflation would be the highest reading since mid-1990. Lowe made it clear there was more tightening to come to reign is persistently rising inflation.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.30 points or 0.60 percent to 6,645.70, after hitting a low of 6,629.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 46.80 points or 0.68 percent to 6,834.40. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, OZ Minerals is losing almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent, BHP Group is declining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.2 percent, while Fortescue Metals is up almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent, Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is slipping almost 3 percent, Afterpay owner Block is plunging almost 6 percent and Zip is declining sliding more than 4 percent, while Appen and Xero are declining almost 4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources, Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is slipping almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.690 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks swung between gains and losses on Tuesday with investors largely making cautious moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The Fed, which is scheduled to announce its policy on Wednesday, is widely expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points.

Among the major averages, the Dow and the S&P 500 both extended their losses to a fifth straight session. The Dow ended the session with a loss of 151.91 points or 0.5 percent at 30,364.83, the S&P 500 ended lower by 14.15 points or 0.38 percent at 3,735.48 and the Nasdaq settled at 10,828.35, gaining 19.12 points or 0.18 perccent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. Germany's DAX fell 0.91 percent, France's CAC 40 drifted down 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.25 percent.

Crude oil futures drifted lower Tuesday on reports of a likely proposal to impose a federal surtax on oil companies to curb rising inflation. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended lower by $2.00 or 1.7 percent at $118.93 a barrel.