The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, despite the broadly positive cues from global on Friday, with losses in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.00 points or 0.22 percent to 7,314.40, after hitting a low of 7,307.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 19.50 points or 0.26 percent to 7,503.50. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing more than 3 percent, BHP Group is down more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is slipping almost 5 percent, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent, Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is adding almost 1 percent and Afterpay owner Block is up almost 2 percent, while Appen is losing almost 2 percent. Zip is flat.
Gold miners are lower. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent, while Evolution Mining, Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are down more than 1 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.4 percent.
In other news, shares in South32 are losing more than 8 percent after the miner cut its March quarter production.
Shares in InvoCare are plunging more than 15 percent after reports that TPG Capital has formally withdrawn its takeover offer for the funeral services company.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Friday after ending Thursday's session mostly lower,. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session slightly higher. The Dow crept up 22.34 points or 0.1 percent to 33,808.96, the Nasdaq edged up 12.90 points or 0.1 percent to 12,072.46 and the S&P 500 inched up 3.73 points or 0.1 percent to 4,133.52.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, buoyed by fairly strong data on private sector activity in the U.K. and eurozone. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.50 or 0.7 percent at $77.87 a barrel. WTI lost 5.5 percent last week.
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