Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets on Friday, as aggressive monetary tightening by major central banks continued to weigh on markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 31.80 points or 0.45 percent to 7,067.40, after hitting a low of 7,060.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 33.60 points or 0.46 percent to 7,252.00. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Zip is losing almost 5 percent and Appen is plunging almost 10 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.4 percent each. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is up almost 1 percent. Among the big four banks, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, share in Element 25 are soaring more than 14 percent after it inked a deal with General Motors to supply battery grade manganese sulphate to its USA Ultium Battery plants.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the session on Friday, giving back ground following the tech-led rebound during trading on Thursday. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq leading the pullback.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 138.09 points or 1.0 percent to 13,492.52, the S&P 500 slid 33.56 points or 0.8 percent to 4,348.44 and the Dow fell 219.28 points or 0.7 percent to 33,727.43.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a slew of interest rate hikes by central banks and prospects of further tightening raising concerns about economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.35 at $69.16 a barrel.