Australian Market Extends Early Losses In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market trading on Monday, adding the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,500.00 level, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The decline followed US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a blanket 25 tariff on all aluminum and steel imports, set to take effect later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.10 points or 0.35 percent to 8,481.30, after hitting a low of 8,445.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.70 points or 0.37 percent to 8,747.60. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment Group are jumping almost 15 percent after the beleaguered casino operator said it would not accept proposals from Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium to take over its 50 per cent stake and debt in the Queen's Wharf complex in Brisbane.

Shares in Ansell are surging almost 7 percent after the medical gear maker said it was planning price rises to offset US tariffs.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 15,174. That was in line with expectations following the 3.4 percent decline in November. The value of total residential building fell 0.9 percent on month to A$8.33 billion, while the value of non-residential building rose 9.7 percent to A$6.62 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.625 on Monday.