Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Monday, snapping a four-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,500.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 59.20 points or 0.69 percent to 8,496.60, after hitting a low of 8,483.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 53.90 points or 0.61 percent to 8,771.20. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent, Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent and Woodside Energy is declining more than 2 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are declining more than 4 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Newmont are losing 2.5 percent each. Resolute Mining is slipping almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is slipping more than 1 percent and Westpac is declining almost 5 percent after reporting downbeat results for the first quarter.

In other news, shares in BlueScope are jumping almost 10 percent after Australia's biggest steelmaker boosted its interim dividend to 30 cents despite a 59 percent drop in net profit after tax.

Shares in A2 Milk are soaring more than 16 percent after it upgraded full-year revenue guidance and announced its first dividend.

Shares in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are tumbling more than 17 percent after reporting downbeat results for the first half.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday following the rally seen during Thursday's session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 81.13 points or 0.4 percent to 20,026.77, the S&P 500 edged down 0.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,114.64 and the narrower Dow fell 165.35 points or 0.4 percent to 44,546.08.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday as supply concerns eased amid hopes of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and possibility of removal of sanctions on Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures fell $0.55 or 0.77 percent at $70.74 a barrel. WTI futures gained 1.0 percent for the week.