Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Monday, extending the losses in the previous six sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, particularly technology and energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.40 points or 0.10 percent to 6,468.40, after hitting a low of 6,466.60 and a high of 6,493.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.60 points or 0.20 percent to 6,649.70. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is declining more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is slipping almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are sliding almost 4 percent each, while Beach energy is plunging almost 6 percent and Origin Energy is losing more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Appen is gaining 5.5 percent, Afterpay owner Block is adding more than 3 percent. Zip is losing almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Gold Road Resources, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are losing more than 3 percent each, while Resolute Mining is slipping more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is declining almost 3 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Infomedia Ltd are surging almost 8 percent after the automotive software firm received a $443 million acquisition offer from U.S.-based software company Solera Holdings LLC.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.695 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the session on Friday following the sell-off seen during trading on Thursday. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed before finishing the session mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 152.25 points or 1.4 percent to 10,798.35 and the S&P 500 crept up 8.07 points or 0.2 percent to 3,674.84, the narrower Dow edged down 38.29 points or 0.1 percent to 29,888.78, closing at its lowest level since December of 2020.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday on mounting fears about a possible global economic recession following severe tightening of policies by several central banks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended lower by $8.03 or 6.8 percent at $109.56 a barrel.