Australian Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly lower is choppy trading on Monday, snapping the six-session winning streak, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 8,000.00 mark, with weakness in iron ore miners amid tumbling iron ore prices, partially offset by gains in gold miners amid spiking yellow metal prices. Traders also booked some profits after the recent rally.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.20 points or 0.08 percent to 7,964.90, after hitting a low of 7,950.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 9.50 points or 0.12 percent to 8,180.40. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.5 percent, while Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is adding more than 1 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is surging almost 8 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is advancing almost 2 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In other news, share in A2 Milk tumbled more than 16 percent after the dairy company forecast mid-single-digit revenue growth in FY25 and warned that growth would be impacted by infant formula milk supply constraints. It said trading conditions in China remained challenging and a further decline in market value in FY25 is expected.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stock moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages climbed more firmly into positive territory after bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line in early trading.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the day but still closed modestly higher. The Dow climbed 96.70 points or 0.2 percent to 40,659.76, the Nasdaq rose 37.22 points or 0.2 percent to 17,631.72 and the S&P 500 edged up 11.03 points or 0.2 percent to 5,554.25.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, with traders assessing the situation in the Middle East and the outlook for oil demand from China in the wake of recent weak data from the world's second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down by $1.51 or about 1.9 percent at $76.65 a barrel.