Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, weighed down by weakness across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 12.60 points or 0.18 percent to 7,135.50, after hitting a low of 7,127.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 9.40 points or 0.13 percent to 7,356.70. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.3 percent. BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Santos is gaining more than 1 percent and Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent, Zip is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is slipping almost 2 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Xero is edging up 0.1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is losing more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in A2 Milk are plunging more than 12 percent after the Infant formula maker downgraded its revenue guidance amid slowdown in its key China market.

Shares in Iress sank more than 26 percent on suspending its interim dividend after completion of its managed funds administration business sale.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday with investors largely staying cautious amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation.

Among the major averages, the Dow ended the session with a gain of 25.83 points or 0.07 percent at 34,500.66. The S&P 500 ended little changed at 4,369.71, while the Nasdaq finished with a loss of 26.16 points or 0.2 percent at 13,290.78.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed notable moves to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both dropped 0.65 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.38 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending gains from the previous session after data indicated a drop in output, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures added $0.86 or 1.1 percent to $81.25 a barrel. WTI Crude futures shed 2 percent for the week.