Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying above the 8,400.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by in iron ore miners and technology stocks. Gold miners are the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.40 points or 0.08 percent to 8,428.30, after hitting a low of 8,424.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 5.90 points or 0.07 percent to 8,654.40. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent and Appen is sliding almost 5 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are down almost 1 percent each. Xero is gaining almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.1 percent, while Newmont and Gold Road Resources are adding more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is down almost 1 percent, ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent and Westpac are losing 1.5 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in Soul Patts are leaping almost 11 percent and shares in Brickworks are jumping more than 18 percent after the two blue chip companies announced a $14 billion merger to form ASX-listed investments, private capital, property and building products giant.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in May, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 51.7 in April, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.646 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks shook off a sluggish start on Friday, with the major U.S. markets posting a mild recovery to finish mixed and little changed. The early selling pressure on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump accused China of violating the trade agreement reached last month.

The Dow rose 54.34 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 42,270.07, while the NASDAQ slipped 62.11 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,113.77 and the S&P 500 eased 0.48 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,911.69.

The major European also closed mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.64 percent, Germany's DAX gained 0.27 percent, and France's CAC 40 closed down 0.34 percent.

Crude oil prices eased on Friday due to uncertainty over Trump's tariffs and their likely impact on global growth and fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery eased $0.18 or 0.30 percent to $60.76 a barrel.