Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,900.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by technology stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot amid spiking bullion prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.60 points or 0.19 percent to 8,887.30, after hitting a low of 8,882.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 17.40 points or 0.19 percent to 9,209.30. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent, Fortescue is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.3 percent. Zip and Appen are down more than 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global and Xero are losing almost 2 percent each.

Gold miners are higher. Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Newmont is up 1.5 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is edging down 0.2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each. In other news, shares in Catalyst Metals are jumping almost 6 percent after reporting a new high-grade gold discovery below its Cinnamon Resource on the Plutonic Gold Belt in Western Australia.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside in early trading on Friday but quickly gave back ground and showed a lack of direction over the remainder of the trading session.

The major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower. The Dow dipped 83.11 points or 0.2 percent to 49,359.33, the Nasdaq slipped 14.63 points or 0.1 percent to 23,515.39 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 6,940.01.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday as traders weighed the continuing risks after reports that the U.S. is consolidating its forces in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.40 or 0.68 percent at $59.59 per barrel.