Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After opening in the green, the Australian stock market is currently trading modestly lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,000.00 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with a sell-off in iron ore miners amid lower prices, partially offset by gains in gold miners.

Traders also cautiously await domestic inflation data later in the week that will provide cues on the outlook for interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 11.60 points or 0.17 percent to 7,029.20, after hitting a low of 7,025.00 and a high of 7,054.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 11.50 points or 0.16 percent to 7,232.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is down 1.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.4 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 2 percent, while Appen and Xero are adding more than 1 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.2 percent. Zip is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent. Newmont is losing almost 1 percent.

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

Shares in Adore Beauty are surging more than 20 percent after the online beauty retailer's board rejected THG's non-binding indicative cash offer of $1.25 to $1.30 a share.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout the trading session on Friday, as many traders continued to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Despite the choppy trading, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the day at their best closing levels in well over three months.

The major averages finished the session narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq edged down 15.00 points or 0.1 percent to 14,250.85, the S&P 500 crept up 2.72 points or 0.1 percent to 4,559.34 and the Dow rose 117.12 points or 0.3 percent to 35,390.15.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday, with traders waiting on a crucial OPEC meeting this week as oil producers struggling to come to a consensus on production levels. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.56 or 2 percent at $75.54 a barrel.