CANBERRA: The Australian stock market is declining on Wednesday following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street and the fall in crude oil prices. Investors are cautious ahead of the Dutch election vote and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision due later in the day. In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.60 points or 0.29 percent to 5,742.50, off a low of 5,731.80. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 16.10 points or 0.28 percent to 5,782.00. In the banking sector, ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are lower in a range of 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent. The major miners are higher on stable iron ore prices. Rio Tinto is advancing 1 percent, BHP Billiton is adding 0.2 percent, and Fortescue Metals is higher by 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are flat after crude oil prices fell overnight. Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are edging up less than 0.1 percent each, while Santos is down by less than 0.1 percent. Shares of CSL pared earlier losses and is adding 0.2 percent after the biotechnology company went ex-dividend. According to the latest survey from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute, consumer confidence in Australia showed little movement in March, with an index score of 99.7 – up 0.1 percent from the February reading. That follows the 2.3 percent jump in February to a score of 99.6.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that new motor vehicle sales in Australia were down a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent on month in February, standing at 94,786. That follows the 0.6 percent increase in January. In the currency market, the Australian dollar is flat against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7562, flat from US$0.7563 on Tuesday. On Wall Street, stocks fell Tuesday as traders moved to the sidelines ahead of tomorrow’s interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve. Analysts think the Fed will raise interest rates, but there is much uncertainty about the outlook for further tightening. The S&P 500 fell 8 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 2,365, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 44 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 20,837 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 18 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 5,856. The European markets ended Tuesday’s session with modest losses as traders remained in a cautious mood ahead of the Dutch election and Wednesday’s announcement from the Federal Reserve. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.01 percent, the CAC 40 of France fell 0.51 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.13 percent. Crude oil futures extended steep recent losses on Tuesday. April WTI oil declined $0.68 or 1.4 percent to settle at $47.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
