The Australian stock market is declining on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 6,800 level, after three straight sessions of gains, following inconclusive cues overnight from Wall Street as investors stayed cautious while they look ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement. Gains in the technology stocks were more than offset by weakness in materials and energy stocks amid weak commodity prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.60 points or 0.71 percent to 6,778.50, after falling to a low of 6,775.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is lower by 46.8 points or 0.66 percent to 7,032.20. Australian stocks closed higher on Tuesday.
In the tech space, Appen is edging up 0.1 percent, while Afterpay is adding more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are lower, with Evolution Mining losing almost 3 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are down almost 1 percent each.
Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is down nearly 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.1 percent.
Oil stocks are also lower after crude oil prices dropped overnight. Oil Search is declining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are down almost 1 percent each.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.
Shares in Corporate Travel Management are plunging more than 6 percent after the business travel firms founder Jamie Pherous offloaded 1.5 million shares of the company.
In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia edged up 0.02 percent on month in February, after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent drop in January.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.773 on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session firmly positive. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher, the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back off yesterday's record closing highs.
The Nasdaq gave back ground after jumping as much as 1.2 percent but still ended the day up 11.86 points or 0.1 percent at 13,471.57. Meanwhile, the Dow fell 127.51 points or 0.4 percent to 32,825.95 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.23 points or 0.2 percent to 3,962.71.
The major European also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday amid concerns of a likely drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.59 or 0.9 percent at $64.80 per barrel, falling for a third straight session.
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