(RTTNews) – The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following he broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,850.00 level, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 11.50 points or 0.13 percent to 8,832.90, after hitting a low of 8,817.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.00 points or 0.09 percent to 9,040.30. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, Fortescue is gaining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent, while BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent. Zip is edging down 0.3 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Genesis Minerals is tumbling more than 6 percent, Resolute Mining is declining 1.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent. Newmont is flat.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent.
In other news, shares in Vault Minerals are surging almost 9 percent after receiving a binding takeover proposal from Genesis Minerals, valuing the gold miner at $5.6 billion to trump an existing offer from Regis Resources. Genesis has offered 0.7629 of its shares plus 47.5¢ cash for each Vault share.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.694 on Monday.
On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Independence Day on Friday after closing higher on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the major European markets saw modest gains thanks to easing Middle East tensions. The UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.25 percent, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 moved up 0.78 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively.
Crude Oil prices held steady on Friday but headed for their fourth straight weekly loss on eased concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery edged up 0.2 percent to $68.84 per barrel.
