The Australian stock market is trading weak on Tuesday with investors tracking a negative overnight lead from Wall Street where stocks ended lower amid lingering concerns about the economy on the back of recent disappointing reports.
Energy, mining, industrial and consumer discretionary stocks are mostly trading lower, while financial stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which tumbled to 4,531.6 after a weak start, is currently trading at 4,548, down 21.1 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is down 25 points or 0.5 percent at 4,623.7, off the day's low of 4,609.5.
On Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 index declined 14 points or 0.3 percent to close at 4,569.1, while the All Ordinaries index ended down 17.9 points or 0.4 percent at 4,648.7.
Australia's central bank is likely to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.75 percent when its board meets to review its policy on Tuesday. However, analysts widely expect the bank to hike the rate in the next quarter to tame rising inflationary pressures.
Top miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are trading notably lower. Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Santos are also down with notable losses. Origin Energy and Oil Search are also trading weak.
In the banking space, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are down marginally, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia is down 0.8 percent from its previous closing price.
Tabcorp Holdings is down as much as 5.6 percent. Lynas Corporation, CSR, Incitec Pivot, Bluescope Steel, Iluka Resources, Macquarie Group, Fairfax Media and Paladin Energy are down 2 to 3.3 percent.
Caltex Australia, Downer EDI, David Jones, Seven West Media, Boart Longyear, News Corporation and Resmed are also down with notable losses.
Shares of Virgin Australia are trading nearly 2 percent up following the company signing an agreement with Singapore Airlines. The agreement will allow Singapore Airlines customers access to Virgin Australia's domestic network with just one ticket, while Virgin Australia Velocity Gold members and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold members will have access to each airline's airport lounges. Qantas Airways shares are down by about 2 percent.
Metcash Ltd has announced that its net profit for the year 2010-2011 rose 6 percent to A$241.4 million. Revenue was up 7.4 percent to A$12.46 billion.
On the economic front, the latest Performance of Construction index produced by the Australian Industry Group and Housing Industry Association shows a reading of 39.6 for May 2011, an increase of 1.7 points from the April reading of 37.9. AIG said all four major sub-sectors of the index contracted in May. The apartment construction sub index fell 5.8 points or 25.3. The new orders sub index was unchanged at 38.5.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened notably lower ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.0713, down from Monday's close of U$1.0753.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia and South Korea are trading weak, while Japan and New Zealand are trading marginally higher. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for the economy on the back of recent disappointing data.
The major averages closed firmly in negative territory and once again set new two-month closing lows. The Dow fell 61.3 points or 0.5 percent to 12,090, the Nasdaq dropped 30.2 points or 1.1 percent to 2,702.6 and the S&P 500 lost about 14 points or 1.1 percent, settling at 1,286.2.
Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index edged up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index lost 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices declined in choppy trading on Monday amid concerns about a fall in demand. Light, sweet crude for July delivery ended down US$1.21 at US$99.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.