Australian Markets Sharply Lower, Down Over 3%

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is tumbling more than 3 percent to near the 8,5500.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial, mining and technology stocks amid concerns about the military conflict in the Middle-East. Energy stocks are the only bright spot amid spiking crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 300.60 points or 3.40 percent to 8,550.40, after hitting a low of 8,536.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 307.00 points or 3.38 percent to 8,778.10. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is tumbling almost 7 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 4 percent, Fortescue is losing more than 3 percent and BHP Group is sliding more than 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Santos is advancing more than 2 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is slipping almost 5 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 6 percent and Xero is down more than 4 percent.

Gold miners are lower. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is slipping almost 6 percent, Newmont is down more than 3 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all losing almost 4 percent each. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, adding to the losses posted in the previous session. With the steep losses on the day, the Dow and the Nasdaq dropped to their lowest closing levels in over three months and the S&P 500 hit a two-month closing low.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 361.31 points or 1.6 percent to 22,387.68, the S&P 500 tumbled 90.69 points or 1.3 percent to 6,740.02 and the Dow slumped 453.19 points or 1.0 percent to 47,501.55.

The major European markets have all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index declined by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday after Qatar warned of a production halt in the gulf as the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has heavily disrupted energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $9.88 or 12.20 percent at $90.89 per barrel.