Australian Market Slightly Trims Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly trimming its early losses in mid-market trading on Monday, snapping a four-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,500.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 56.80 points or 0.66 percent to 8,499.00, after hitting a low of 8,480.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 51.00 points or 0.58 percent to 8,774.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent each and Rio Tinto is declining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are losing almost 2 percent each. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging down 0.5 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is surging more than 6 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block, WiseTech Global and Xero are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is declining more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is sliding almost 4 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newmont are losing more than 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is declining almost 6 percent after reporting downbeat results for the first quarter.

In other news, shares in BlueScope are jumping almost 10 percent after Australia's biggest steelmaker boosted its interim dividend to 30 cents despite a 59 percent drop in net profit after tax.

Shares in A2 Milk are soaring more than 18 percent after it upgraded full-year revenue guidance and announced its first dividend.

Shares in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are tumbling almost 17 percent after reporting downbeat results for the first half.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Monday.