Australian Markets Notably Lower

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

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 46.70 points or 0.53 percent to 8,739.80, after hitting a low of 8,736.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.60 points or 0.50 percent to 8,961.80. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is declining more than 3 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is tumbling almost 5 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, while Newmont is jumping more than 6 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.3 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Atlas Arteria Group are jumping more than 12 percent after shareholders received details of a formal off-market takeover offer from Diamond Infraco 1 Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, at a premium price of $4.75 per security.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Friday after moving mostly lower over the course of the previous session. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 398.09 points or 1.6 percent to 24,836.60, while the S&P 500 advanced 56.68 points or 0.8 percent to 7,165.08. The narrower Dow, on the other hand, bucked the uptrend and dipped 79.61 points or 0.2 percent to 49,230.71.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slid by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday as the prospects of a peace deal between U.S. and Iran gather steam, lowering Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $1.68 or 1.75 percent at $94.17 per barrel.