Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly lower on Monday, adding to the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,400.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks. Technology stocks were the only bright spot.

Traders now remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's board meeting with a cash rate decision due on Tuesday, where the RBA is widely expected to hold rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 23.00 points or 0.28 percent to 8,397.90, after hitting a low of 8,371.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 24.10 points or 0.28 percent to 8,665.20. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining more than 3 percent and Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 2 percent, Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent, Santos is declining almost 2 percent and Beach energy is slipping more than 6 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, while Xero, WiseTech Global and Zip are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Appen is losing more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 6 percent, while Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is declining almost 3 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent.

In other news, shares in Platinum Asset Management are tumbling almost 17 percent after Regal Partners ended buyout talks with the fund manager, with no new deal reached.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stock indexes all moved to the upside early in the session on Friday but turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory and reach new record closing highs, the narrower Dow pulled back into negative territory.

The major averages turned in a mixed performance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session near its best levels of the day, climbing 159.05 points or 0.8 percent to 19,859.77. The S&P 500 also rose 15.16 points or 0.3 percent to 6,090.27, but the Dow fell 123.19 points or 0.3 percent to 44,642.52

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. The French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, but the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.