Australian Market Modestly Lower

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, snapping the winning streak of seven sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,600 level near all-time highs, ignoring the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain concerned amid the rapid spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants in New South Wales.

NSW reported 478 new cases on Sunday, the highest number ever recorded in the state for a day, with eight deaths. Victoria also recorded 22 new locally acquired cases, with the total active cases of COVID-19 across Victoria standing at 205.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 29.70 points or 0.39 percent to 7,599.20, after hitting a low of 7,593.80. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 27.30 points or 0.35 percent to 7,870.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.2 percent, while OZ Minerals is lower by 1.6 percent. Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.3 percent each.

BHP confirmed today it is in talks to merge its $20 billion petroleum business with Woodside Petroleum.

Oil stocks are lower, with Origin Energy losing almost 2 percent and Oil Search is declining almost 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are down more than 1 percent. Beach energy plunging almost 8 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen and Afterpay are losing almost 1 percent each, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are up more than 1 percent each. Newcrest Mining is adding more than 2 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank ia down almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is declining more than 2 percent.

In other news, global property giant Lendlease has swung to a full-year profit of $222 million, bouncing back from a $310 million loss a year ago. However, the stock is down more than 5 percent.

Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven West Media swung to a net profit of $318 million after a better-than-expected advertising market allowed it to reverse impairments on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and its television licence. However, the stock is declining almost 8 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.736 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks ended roughly flat on Friday despite the Dow and the S&P 500 both climbing to fresh record highs early on in the session. Data showing a significant drop in U.S. consumer sentiment, and concerns about the impact of surging cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus on growth outweighed buoyant earnings updates from some top notch companies.

The Dow, which rose to 35,610.57 in early trades, ended the session at 35,515.38, gaining 15.53 points or 0.04 percent. The S&P 500 ended up by 7.17 points or 0.16 percent at 4,468.00, while the Nasdaq settled with a gain of 6.64 points or 0.04 percent at 14,822.90.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.35 percent, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.25 percent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower Friday as traders weighed the outlook for energy demand amid spikes in the delta variant coronavirus in several countries. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended down $0.65 or 0.9 percent at $68.44 a barrel.

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