Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the weakness in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, particularly materials, financial and energy stocks amid slipping commodity prices.

Concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus also weighed on the markets, with the fast spreading variant now present in 89 countries. Domestically, New South Wales reported a record 2,501 new cases on Sunday, with no deaths. Victoria also reported 1,302 new cases, but no deaths.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 34.50 points or 0.47 percent to 7,269.50, after hitting a low of 7,257.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 43.10 points or 0.57 percent to 7,583.10. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and OZ Minerals are declining more than 2 percent each. Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are lower, with Woodside Petroleum losing more than 3.5 percent and Origin Energy down almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are slipping almost 5 percent each. Among tech stocks, Appen is edging down 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent, while Afterpay and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each. Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, while Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are declining more than 1 percent each. Evolution Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is declining almost 2 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are down more than 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Friday but largely maintained a negative bias following the pullback seen in the previous session. The-tech heavy Nasdaq saw particular volatility following the steep drop seen on Thursday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 closed firmly in the red, while the Nasdaq posted a much more modest loss. While the Nasdaq edged down 10.75 points or 0.1 percent to 15,169.68, the Dow tumbled 532.20 points or 1.5 percent to 35,365.44 and the S&P 500 slumped 48.03 points or 1 percent to 4,620.64.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices tumbled Friday on concerns for energy demand due to a rapid surge in Omicron variant of the coronavirus and reimposition of restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $1.52 or 2.1 percent at $70.86 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 1.1 percent in the week.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.