Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying just above the 8,650.00 level, with weakness in energy, financial and technology stocks partially offset by strong gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.30 points or 0.06 percent to 8,656.70, after hitting a low of 8,630.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 6.50 points or 0.07 percent to 8,910.60. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent. Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is down more than 1 percent, Zip is slipping more than 5 percent and Xero is edging down 0.1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is surging almost 5 percent, Newmont is up almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are adding more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Friday following the downturn seen over the course of Thursday's session. The major averages all moved sharply lower, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back well off Thursday's record intraday highs.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 472.32 points or 2.2 percent to 47,231.61, the S&P 500 tumbled 101.38 points or 1.6 percent to 6,238.01 and the Dow slumped 542.40 points or 1.2 percent to 43,588.58.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plummeted by 2.9 percent, the German DAX Index plunged by 2.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Friday on demand concerns for potentially reduced consumption amid new tariffs from the U.S. government. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.92 or 2.77 percent at $67.34 per barrel.