Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending 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 staying below the 8,600.00 level, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 14.70 points or 0.17 percent to 8,565.40, after hitting a low of 8,558.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.14 percent to 8,807.90. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and Appen are sliding more than 5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is adding almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is edging up 0.3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are declining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each.

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

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Friday but still closed modestly lower after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off Thursday's record closing highs.

The Dow slid 279.13 points or 0.6 percent to 44,371.51, the Nasdaq slipped 45.14 points or 0.2 percent to 20,585.53 and the S&P 500 fell 20.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,259.75.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday after the International Energy Agency upwardly revised its oil supply forecast and also buoyed by lingering geopolitical risks in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up $1.88 to settle at $68.45 per barrel.