Australian Markets Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,950.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 29.60 points or 0.33 percent to 8,947.20, after hitting a low of 8,940.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 31.50 points or 0.36 percent to 9,105.50. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is down more than 2 percent and Santos is slipping almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block losing almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global, Zip and Xero are declining more than 1 percent. Appen is gaining more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining and Newmont are down more than 1 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.4 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Evolution Mining is gaining almost percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. National Australia Bank is edging up 0.1 percent. In other news, shares in FleetPartners are jumping more than 16 percent after receiving a $770 million takeover bid from SG Fleet.

Shares in IperionX are slipping almost 6 percent after the critical minerals company announced that its ultimate parent company would be redomiciled to Texas and listed directly on the Nasdaq.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.0. That's up from 51.5 in June, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.704 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Friday after failing to sustain an initial advance but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all moved to the upside, adding to the strong gains posted during Thursday's session.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 251.68 points or 1 percent to 25,373.85, the S&P 500 advanced 52.09 points or 0.7 percent to 7,489.72 and the Dow climbed 276.97 points or 0.5 percent to 52,485.03.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices jumped on Friday after Iran's military conducted strikes on U.S. military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.48 or 1.77 percent at $85.07 per barrel.