Australian Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading sharply lower on Monday, giving up the the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 7,8700.00 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors led by mining, energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 117.90 points or 1.50 percent to 7,729.10, after hitting a low of 7,729.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 118.80 points or 1.47 percent to 7,988.70. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing 2.5 percent, Fortescue Metals is down more than 2 percent, BHP Group is slipping almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are losing more than 2 percent each, while Santos is down almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero is edging down 0.3 percent, Zip is losing almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 4 percent and Appen is surging almost 5 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent, is gaining more than 5 percent, Newmont is edging up 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is flat.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday but showed a notable downturn over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages staged a failed recovery attempt in the latter part of the session, ending the day firmly in the red. The Nasdaq tumbled 188.26 points or 1.2 percent to 16,085.11, the S&P 500 slid 33.67 points or 0.7 percent to 5,123.69 and the Dow dipped 68.66 points or 0.2 percent to 38,722.69.

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

Crude oil prices fell on Friday amid uncertainty about the outlook for demand, particularly from China after data showed a drop in the country's oil imports in the first two months of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April shed $0.92 or 1.2 percent at $78.01 a barrel. WTI crude futures sank 2.5 percent in the week.