The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Wednesday, tracking cues from the U.S. and European markets, which declined overnight on geopolitical worries and some disappointing eurozone economic data.
Consumer discretionary, financial, industrial and property trusts stocks are weak. Energy and mining stocks are mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 31.2 points or 0.6 percent at 5,384.5, after declining to 5,363.4 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index, which dropped down to 5,364.1, is currently down 31.8 points or 0.6 percent at 5,384.1.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Commerce, National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are down 0.7 to 1.2 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are declining 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Among top miners, Rio Tinto (RIO), Fortescue Metals and Newcrest Mining are moving up 0.7 to 1.1 percent, while BHP Billiton (BHP) is down 0.6 percent.
In the oil sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search and Caltex Australia are declining 0.5 to 1 percent, while Origin Energy is down marginally.
ALS is down more than 3.5 percent. Crown Resorts, Metcash, REA Group, Perpetual, Fairfax Media, Seek, Ausnet Services, Boral and Lend Lease Group are declining 1.5 to 2.5 percent.
On the economic front, the Conference Board's latest leading index gained 0.5 percent in July, following a 0.4 percent increase in June. With the July increase, the six-month growth rate in the leading economic index between January and July stands at 0.2 percent.
The coincident index added 0.1 percent, slowing from the 0.2 percent gain in the previous month.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened weak against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the local unit was quoting at US$0.8843, down from Tuesday's close of US$0.8900.
On Wall Street, stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday, extending the previous session's losses, amid geopolitical concerns and on news that the U.S. Treasury Department is taking targeted action to reduce the tax benefits of corporate tax inversions. Some disappointing economic data from eurozone too contributed to the decline.
The major averages ended the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow declined by 116.8 points or 0.7 percent to 17,055.9, the Nasdaq closed down 19.0 points or 0.4 percent to 4,508.7 and the S&P 500 slid 11.5 points or 0.6 percent to 1,982.8.
Major European markets too closed weak on Tuesday. While the French CAC 40 index plummeted by 1.9 percent, the German DAX index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index tumbled by 1.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil snapped a four-day loss to end higher on Tuesday, on geopolitical concerns and a fairly encouraging report on the Chinese manufacturing sector. Oil prices got a further boost as the conflict in the Middle East took a new turn with the U.S. airstrikes on Islamic militants in Syria.
Crude oil futures for November delivery ended up $0.69 or 0.8 percent at $91.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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