Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market trading on Monday, adding the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling to near the 8,500.00 level, with weakness in mining stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks. Technology and financial stocks were mixed.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 122.00 points or 1.41 percent to 8,508.80, after hitting a low of 8,505.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 131.50 points or 1.48 percent to 8,739.10. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are declining almost 3 percent each, while BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Beach energy is adding almost 2 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.5 percent, Appen is losing more than 1 percent and Xero is declining almost 2 percent, while Zip is up almost 4 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining and Newmont are tumbling almost 5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is declining more than 6 percent, Genesis Minerals is slipping more than 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent and National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Brambles are tumbling more than 19 percent after it downgraded its 2026 fiscal year earnings guidance.

Shares in Elders are plunging more than 22 percent after the agribusiness group warned of the high risk posed by diesel fuel prices to the industry, despite upbeat half-year results. However, earnings per share were negatively impacted by a higher share count following its capital raising.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Monday.