Australian Markets Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 9,100.00 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.70 points or 0.05 percent to 9,087.60, after hitting a low of 9,055.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 10.10 points or 0.11 percent to 9,284.20. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each, while Appen and Zip are declining more than 2 percent each. Xero is slipping more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining is down more than 3 percent, Newmont is losing more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is slipping almost 4 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are sliding more than 4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are adding more than 1 percent each. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.716 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Friday after seeing considerable volatility early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, partly offsetting the strength seen in the previous session.

The Nasdaq slid 138.93 points or 0.5 percent to 26,402.42 and the S&P 500 fell 19.23 points or 0.3 percent to 7,711.76. The narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, edging down 9.45 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 53,559.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices edged lower Friday as the shift by the U.S. to pressure Iran economically rather than by force dampened the risk premium for crude oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery eased $0.13 or 0.16 percent at $83.40 per barrel.