(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading in the red on Wednesday with the overnight fall on Wall Street on the back of disappointing economic reports prompting investors to go in for some selling.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which drifted down to 4,819 in early trades, is currently down 12.2 points, or 0.3%, at 4,834. The broader All Ordinaries index is down 10.8 points, or 0.2%, at 4,842.

On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX200 index ended stronger by 53.4 points, or 1.1%, at 4,846.2 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 51 points, or 1.1%, at 4,852.8.

BHP Billiton is down 1.2% despite the company reporting a record iron ore output for the first quarter. The resources group’s iron ore production rose to 30.106 million tonnes in the three months ended September 30, from 29.824 million tonnes during the same period in 2008.

Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are trading lower by 0.4% and 1.2% respectively. Orica is down by over 2%. Lihir Gold, Bluescope Steel and Incitec Pivot are also trading weak.

Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search are trading up 1.4% - 1.6%, while Origin Energy is up 0.7% over its previous closing price.

In the banking space, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation are trading flat, while National Australia is down with a modest loss.

On the economic front, the annualized growth rate of the Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity, which indicates the likely pace of activity three to nine months into the future, was 1.7% in August, the first positive reading for the index since September 2008. The index was minus 1.0 points in July and minus 4.2 points in June.

According to a release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian new motor vehicle sales rose by 2.9%, seasonally adjusted, to 77,744 units in September, from 75,530 units in August.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened lower, with investors pulling away from the risk-sensitive unit on the back of some weak economic leads from U.S. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$0.9224-US$0.9225, down from Tuesday’s close of US$0.9280-US$0.9283. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.9218 to the U.S. dollar.

Among other stocks markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore are down with modest losses, while Korea and Taiwan are trading flat. On Tuesday, Asian markets had ended mostly higher.

On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Tuesday with disappointing housing data triggering some selling. The major averages all closed firmly in negative territory after ending the previous session at one-year closing highs.

The Dow closed lower by 50.7 points, or 0.5%, at 10,041.5, the Nasdaq ended down 12.9 points, or 0.6%, at 2,163.5 and the S&P 500 drifted down by 6.9 points, or 0.6%, to 1,091.1.

Major European markets all closed moderately lower on Tuesday, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and the German DAX index both falling by 0.7%, while the French CAC 40 index closed 0.5% down.

Crude oil finished lower after failing to hold above the US$80 per barrel mark on Tuesday. Disappointing economic reports led to energy demand worries ahead of Wednesday’s inventory report. Light sweet crude for November fell to US$79.08, down 52 cents on the session. The November contract expired at the end of Tuesday’s session. December oil fell 84 cents to finish at US$79.12 per barrel.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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