Australian Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,450.00 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 57.10 points or 0.67 percent to 8,448.40, after hitting a low of 8,466.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 62.30 points or 0.71 percent to 8,661.20. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining almost 2 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while and Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, while Appen is sliding more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is losing 1.5 percent, Zip is down almost 2 percent and Xero is slipping almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.1 percent, Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 4 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Adairs are tumbling almost 25 percent after the homewares and furniture retailer trimmed its profit outlook for the year, warning that stronger promotional activity had boosted sales but would dent margins.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Friday after moving to the upside in early trading with traders returning to their desks following the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday. Traders keep a close eye on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.

The Dow rose 36.12 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 42,206.82, while the NASDAQ slipped 98.89 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19,447.41 and the S&P 500 eased 13.03 points or 0.22 percent to end at 5,967.84.

The major European markets also closed mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 17.15 points or 0.20 percent to close at 8,774.65, while Germany's DAX jumped 293.17 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 23,350.55 and France's CAC 40 added 36.21 points or 0.48 percent to end at 7,589.66.

Crude oil prices slipped on Friday as concerns of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict faded, even as the fighting between the two nations intensified. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery closed down by $0.21 to $74.93 per barrel.