Australian Markets Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,800.00 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 31.10 points or 0.35 percent to 8,797.60, after hitting a low of 8,793.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 30.60 points or 0.34 percent to 9,016.70. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent and Fortescue is down almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen and Zip are losing more than 1 percent each. Xero is gaining almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is tumbling more than 13 percent as traders digest an outage at CargoWise, the logistics software group's core freight, customs and trade operations product.

Gold miners are mixed. Newmont and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is edging up 0.2 percent. Northern Star Resources and Genesis Minerals are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Westpac is losing almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.701 on Monday.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed on Friday for Juneteenth Day holiday.

The major European markets ended the day in the negative. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.35 percent, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.16 percent and France's CAC 40 lost 0.55 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled last week on reports that the Strait of Hormuz was re-opened, falling more than 10 percent from the previous week's close to below $80. But Iran closed the strait again over the weekend, likely prompting a rebound in crude prices this week.