The Australian stock market is slipping to modest losses in mid-market trading on Tuesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,950 level, with weakness in gold miners and energy stocks nearly offset by gains in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 10.90 points or 0.12 percent to 8,942.40, after touching a high of 8,976.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 4.50 points or 0.05 percent to 9,169.60. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Fortescue are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are losing almost 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Xero is adding almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent, while Zip and Appen are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Gold miners are mostly weak. Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star resources is down almost 2 percent, while Newmont is edging up 0.1 percent and Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is declining almost 2 percent. National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent..In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.717 on Tuesday.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.