Australian Markets Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous five sessions, following the mixed from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,750.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 49.90 points or 0.57 percent to 8,716.50, after hitting a low of 8,714.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.10 points or 0.52 percent to 8,943.70. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is slipping almost 3 percent, Origin Energy is declining more than 2 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.4 1ercent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is down 2.5 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is tumbling more than 5 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are losing almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent. In other news, shares in European Lithium are plummeting almost 60 percent after it struck a deal to merge with Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals Corp in a US$835 million (A$1.2 billion) deal, valuing the ASX-listed miner at 58 cents per share, a 137 percent premium to its last close.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.719 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday following the strength seen during last Friday's sessions. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq rose 50.50 points or 0.2 percent to 24,887.10 and the S&P 500 inched up 8.83 points or 0.1 percent to 7,173.91, reaching new record closing highs, the Dow edged down 62.92 points or 0.1 percent to 49,167.79.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices soared on Monday after the proposed U.S.-Iran negotiations were called off by the U.S. as supply disruption concerns continue. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $2.32 or 2.46 percent at $96.72 per barrel.