Australian Markets Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 9,000.00 mark, with weakness in financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 35.70 points or 0.40 percent to 8,985.10, after hitting a low of 8,977.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.90 points or 0.36 percent to 9,111.80. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent and Fortescue is up more than 2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent, while Appen is edging down 0.5 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent and Xero is declining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Genesis Minerals is adding more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is advancing almost 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is declining almost 3 percent and Westpac is down more than 1 percent.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 17,948. That was in line with expectations following the 5.2 percent decline in August. On a yearly basis, permits sank -0.8 percent - again matching forecasts following the 12.1 percent spike in the previous month.

Permits for private sector houses were down 5.3 percent on month and up 9.6 percent on year at 10,432. Permits for private sector dwellings excluding houses jumped 16.6 percent on month and tumbled 20.5 percent on year.

The value of residential building fell 2.8 percent to A$11.06 billion, while the value of non-residential building surged 45.9 percent to A$7.96 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Friday following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a notable rebound, although the Dow saw continued weakness.

The major averages ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 237.33 points or 0.5 percent to 51,285.73, the S&P 500 rose 23.13 points or 0.3 percent to 7,376.86 and the Nasdaq jumped 264.43 points or 1.1 percent to 24,579.42.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed notable moves to the downside. The German DAX Index tumbled by 1.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday on continued signals of war risk after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to rule out renewing attacks on Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.46 or 0.51 percent at $90.98 per barrel.