The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Monday, giving up the modest gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday on on disappointing U.S. jobs data and sinking crude oil prices. The worsening domestic coronavirus situation, primarily in New South Wales and Victoria, is also weighing on investor sentiment.
NSW reported 1,281 new cases on Sunday. Victoria also recorded 246 new locally acquired cases, with the total active cases of COVID-19 across Victoria standing at 1,619.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 70.80 points or 0.94 percent to 7,452.10, after hitting a low of 7,440.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 74.80 points or 0.96 percent to 7,751.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower, with Oil Search, Santos and Beach energy losing more than 2 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum are down almost 2 percent each.
Santos and Oil Search have agreed to extend their period of exclusive due diligence for another week before finalising a $22 billion merger deal.
Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 3 percent and Afterpay is edging up 0.5 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding almost 2 percent each. Gold Road Resources is up more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is rising 1.5 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are declining almost 1 percent each.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.744 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Friday, with traders showing some uncertainty about the repercussions of the Labor Department’s monthly jobs. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high.
The major averages finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq rose 32.34 points or 0.2 percent to 15,363.52, the Dow dipped 74.73 points or 0.2 percent to 35,369.09 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.52 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,535.43.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved lower over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both slid both 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday amid worries about demand following the smaller than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payrolls last month. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures ended down $0.70 or 1 percent at $69.29 a barrel; WTI crude futures gained 0.8 percent in the week.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Significantly Lower
2021-09-06 01:23:27
