Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling just below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness in technology, materials and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks amid rising crude oil prices.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision on Tuesday. The RBA is widely expected to continue raising interest rates to tame ballooning inflation.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.00 points or 0.54 percent to 7,199.80, after hitting a low of 7,195.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 43.20 points or 0.58 percent to 7,429.20. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are declining almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero is losing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is down almost 3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Zip are slipping more than 5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are slipping almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Magellan Financial are plunging almost 11 percent after the company's funds under management declined in May.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.720 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, largely offsetting the rally seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages finished the session near their worst levels of the day. While the Nasdaq plunged 304.16 points or 2.5 percent to 12,012.73, the S&P 500 tumbled 68.28 points or 1.6 percent to 4,108.54 and the Dow slumped 348.58 points or 1.1 percent to 32,899.70.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day, with the U.K. markets still closed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday on expectations of increased demand even as OPEC decided to increase output. Stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll employment in May also offered support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.00 or 1.7 percent at $118.87 a barrel.

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