Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling the 7,000 mark, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as a better than expected US monthly jobs date again raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 19.70 points or 0.28 percent to 6,995.90, after hitting a low of 6,986.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 18.20 points or 0.25 percent to 7,232.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent. OZ Minerals is skyrocketing more than 34 percent after the copper and nickel miner rejected an $8.34 billion takeover proposal from BHP Group as the offer undervalued the company.

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

Among tech stocks, Xero is losing almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is edging down 0.4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Appen are surging more than 5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is edging up 0.4 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.691 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed before eventually closing mixed for the second straight day.

While the Dow rose 76.65 points or 0.2 percent to 32,803.47 after tumbling by more than 200 points in early trading, the Nasdaq fell 63.03 points or 0.5 percent to 12,657.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.75 points or 0.2 percent to 4,145.19.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, lifted by the strong jobs report, but still posted a weekly loss amid concerns about demand due to economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.47 or 0.5 percent at $89.01 a barrel.