Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market trading on Monday, but reversing the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying well below the 8,650.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners and energy stocks.

Traders remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision on Tuesday, where the RBA is widely expected to maintain the cash rate at its final meeting of the year after three rate cuts this year.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 25.30 points or 0.29 percent to 8,609.30, after hitting a low of 8,595.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 26.10 points or 0.29 percent to 8,900.00. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are down almost 1 percent each. Woodside Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent. Zip is adding almost 2 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are weak. Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is edging down 0.5 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 2 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Monday.