Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early losses in mid-market trading on Monday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 9,100.00 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks nearly offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 1.30 points or 0.01 percent to 9,091.00, after hitting a low of 9,055.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.60 points or 0.09 percent to 9,285.70. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue is slipping almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is down more than 1 percent and BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each, while Appen and Zip are declining more than 2 percent each. Xero is slipping more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining is down more than 3 percent, Newmont is losing more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is slipping almost 4 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are sliding more than 4 percent each.

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

In economic news, Australia's business inventories fell 0.2 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, reversing an upwardly revised 0.7 percent increase in the previous three-month period. On a yearly basis, business inventories fell 0.4 percent, slipping further from a downwardly revised 0.2 percent decline in the first quarter of 2026.

Total private sector credit in Australia was up 0.6 percent on month in July, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Monday - missing forecasts for 0.7 percent and down from 0.8 percent in June. On a yearly basis, total private sector credit was up 8.4 percent.

Company gross operating profits in Australia were up a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. That missed expectations for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 1.5 percent decline in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, profits were up 7.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.717 on Monday.