The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday after shedding early gains, extending losses of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 hovering just below the 7,000 level, as some gains in technology and financial stocks were offset by losses in materials, energy and gold mining stocks. The cues from Wall Street on Friday were broadly positive.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.90 points or 0.20 percent to 6,981.30, after hitting a low of 6,963.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 17.10 points or 0.24 percent to 7,235.20. Australian stocks closed marginally lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent and OZ Minerals is declining more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower after crude oil prices declined on Friday. Oil Search is down more than 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is losing almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.1 percent.
The big four banks are mixed. National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is up almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent. Appen is gaining almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are lower after gold prices tumbled on Friday. Newcrest Mining is down almost 2 percent, while Star Resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 1 percent each.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.761 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday after initially showing a lack of direction. With the upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq ended the day at its best closing level in almost two months.
The major averages accelerated to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 297.03 points or 0.9 percent to 33,800.60, the Nasdaq rose 70.88 points or 0.5 percent to 13,900.19 and the S&P 500 climbed 31.63 points or 0.8 percent to 4,128.80.
Meanwhile, the major European turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.28 or 0.5 percent at $59.32 a barrel.
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