Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading notably lower on Monday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,300.00 level, with weakness in gold miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.60 points or 0.44 percent to 8,225.20, after hitting a low of 8,217.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 35.00 points or 0.41 percent to 8,485.10. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Beach energy is adding more than 2 percent and Santos is advancing almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 2.5 percent, Zip is down almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent and Xero is slipping 1.5 percent, while Appen is gaining 3.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.623 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled on Friday and the major averages all closed notably lower with the tech-laden Nasdaq suffering a more pronounced loss as yields on 10-Year Treasury Note rose to near 8-month high.

The Dow closed down 333.59 points or 0.77 percent at 42,992.21, well off the day's low of 42,761.56. The S&P 500, which dropped to 5,932.95, settled at 5,970.84 with a loss of 66.75 points or 1.11%, while the Nasdaq ended lower by 298.33 points or 1.49% at 19,722.03, recovering from a low of 19,533.40.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. Germany's DAX closed higher by 0.68 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.16 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $70.60 a barrel, gaining about 1.4 percent.