Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, adding to the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying well below the 8,650.00 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.40 points or 0.16 percent to 8,621.10, after hitting a low of 8,588.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.30 points or 0.15 percent to 8,893.70. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Fortescue is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.1 percent. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1.5 percent and Xero is declining almost 2 percent, while Zip and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Appen is gaining more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 2 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Newmont is losing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Iperionx are tumbling almost 12 percent amid short selling after a damning report by Spruce Point Management, which challenges the company's valuation and commercial prospects. IperionX hit back highlighting fresh U.S. defence contracts and its growth outlook.

Shares in TPG Telecom are in a trading halt as it is in the middle of a major capital management and liquidity reset after tumbling 30 percent last week on going ex-distribution for a massive $1.61 per share capital return.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside in early trading on Friday following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, but showed a significant recovery attempt as the day progressed.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their lows and into positive territory before eventually ending the day roughly flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 30.23 points or 0.1 percent 22,900.59, while the S&P 500 edged down 3.38 points or 0.1 percent to 6,734.11 and the narrower Dow sliding 309.74 points or 0.7 percent to 47,147.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rallied on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil depot in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.2 percent at $59.97 a barrel.