Australian Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday after opening in the green, extending the slight losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 8,100.00 level, with weakness in energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.30 points or 0.24 percent to 9,060.10, after hitting a low of 9,053.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 15.50 points or 0.17 percent to 9,287.70. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent and Santos is declining more than 3 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.4 percent. Xero and WiseTech Global are declining almost 2 percent each, while Zip is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is tumbling almost 10 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent, Newmont is adding more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Westpac is losing more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent. In other news, shares in Nuix are jumping almost 18 percent after software provider returned to profitability in the first half. The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 ACV guidance.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Friday after recovering from an initial move to the downside, but largely maintained a positive bias before eventually finishing the day mostly higher.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a notable gain. The Nasdaq advanced 203.34 points or 0.9 percent to 22,886.07, the S&P 500 climbed 47.62 points or 0.7 percent to 6,909.51 and the Dow rose 230.81 points or 0.5 percent to 49,625.97.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices were relatively lackluster on Friday after spiking to their highest levels in six months amid concerns about a potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery was up $0.05 or 0.1 percent at $66.45 a barrel.