(RTTNews) – The Australian stock market is trading noticeably lower on Monday, giving up modest gains made in the previous session following broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is holding steady just above the 7,700.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 39.90 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 7,727.60, after earlier hitting a low of 7,710.30. The broader All Ordinaries index fell 42.40 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 7,971.40. Australian shares closed slightly higher on Friday.
Traders reacted to data that showed the Australian manufacturing sector contracted the most since May 2020. They are also cautiously awaiting the minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia at the end of the week.
Among major mining companies, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources gained about 1 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue Metals gained 0.3 to 0.4 percent. Oil stocks were weak. Beach Energy and Woodside Energy lost 0.1 to 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy fell more than 1 percent and Santos lost nearly 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining more than 1 per cent and Afterpay owner Block is up 0.4 per cent, while WiseTech Global is losing nearly 3 per cent and Xero is down more than 1 per cent. Zip is steady.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Newmont and Evolution Mining are losing about 2 percent, while Resolute Mining is down 2.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is gaining about 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is down more than 1 per cent and ANZ Banking is down 0.3 per cent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are each down about 1 per cent.
In economic news, Australia's manufacturing sector continued to contract in June, and at an even faster pace, showed Judo Bank's latest survey on Monday, with the manufacturing PMI score at 47.2. That's down from May's 49.7, and it dropped further below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. It marked the fifth consecutive monthly deterioration in manufacturing sector conditions and the fastest pace since May 2020.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.667 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday, but declined significantly during the session. The major averages fell well below their early highs, into negative territory.
After hitting a record intraday high, the Nasdaq fell 126.08 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,732.60 and the S&P 500 dropped 22.39 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,460.48. The Dow declined modestly, falling 45.20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 39,118.86.
Meanwhile, major European markets are seeing mixed performance today. France's CAC 40 index has fallen by 0.5 percent, while Britain's FTSE 100 index has increased by 0.2 percent and Germany's DAX index has increased by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices fell marginally on Friday, slipping from a two-month high on profit-taking. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery fell $0.20, or 0.2 per cent, to $81.54 a barrel.
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