On Monday, the Australian stock market opened with moderate losses, continuing the downward trend from the last four sessions, prompted by mixed results on Wall Street from Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 index remains below the 8,300 level as most sectors, particularly mining and technology, experience declines.
Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index is down by 21.20 points or 0.26 percent, standing at 8,274.80 after reaching a low of 8,264.20 earlier in the session. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index has fallen by 27.60 points or 0.32 percent to 8,522.70. Australian stocks had ended significantly lower on Friday.
Focusing on key mining companies, both BHP Group and Rio Tinto have each dropped more than 1 percent. Fortescue Metals sees a decline nearing 2 percent, and Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent. In the oil sector, performance is mixed. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy have slight decreases of 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Beach Energy shows an increase of nearly 3 percent, with Santos remaining stable.
Technology stocks are under pressure. Block, owner of Afterpay, fell more than 1 percent, Zip is down nearly 1 percent, WiseTech Global is declining by over 2 percent, and Xero is up by 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, Appen takes a significant hit, plunging by more than 10 percent.
Gold mining companies predominantly report losses. Evolution Mining is down over 2 percent, Northern Star Resources loses almost 1 percent, Newmont slips by 3.5 percent, Resolute Mining drops nearly 6 percent, and Gold Road Resources slides close to 2 percent.
The major banks, including National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking, and Commonwealth Bank, are up between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each.
In a separate development, shares in Ventia Serviced fell almost 8 percent after infrastructure executives were implicated in a price-fixing case initiated by the ACCC last week.
On the economic front, Australia's manufacturing sector continued to decline in December, at an accelerated rate, according to Judo Bank's survey released Monday, reporting a PMI of 48.2, down from 49.4 in November. This score further marks a shift below the 50 threshold separating growth from contraction. Meanwhile, the services index eased slightly to 50.4 from last month's 50.5, and the composite index dipped into contraction at 49.9 from 50.2.
In currency markets, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.637.
On Wall Street, Friday's session was marked by indecisiveness, with major averages fluctuating before ending slightly mixed. The Dow dipped by 86.06 points or 0.2 percent, settling at 43,828.06, marking its seventh consecutive session of decline. The S&P 500 saw a marginal drop of 0.16 points, and the tech-centric Nasdaq rose slightly by 23.88 points or 0.1 percent.
In Europe, markets showed minor declines; France's CAC 40 Index decreased by 0.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX Index both saw marginal dips of 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose on Friday, influenced by renewed supply concerns following further sanctions on Iran and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January rose $1.27, or about 1.8 percent, closing at $71.29 a barrel.
