Australian Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading significantly lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from global markets on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,000.00 mark, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners, financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 67.50 points or 0.84 percent to 7,945.90, after hitting a low of 7,918.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 66.10 points or 0.81 percent to 8,148.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.1 percent, while BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is declining almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 4 percent and Xero is losing almost 2 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Zip is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent, while Newmont and Gold Road Resources are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is down 1.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday with traders reacting negatively the monthly jobs report. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbling to its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The major averages finished the day near their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plummeted 436.83 points or 2.6 percent to 16,690.83, the S&P 500 plunged 94.99 points or 1.7 percent to 5,408.42 and the Dow slumped 410.34 points or 1.0 percent to 40,345.41.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to an 18-month low on Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand following the disappointing jobs report. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or 2.1 percent at $67.67 a barrel.