ND: Australian market trades lower, led by big miners
The Australian stock market was trading lower on Monday, ending a two-day winning streak, despite modest gains posted by Wall Street on Friday. Banks and miners were lower in early trade as investors locked in profits from recent gains. At 8:10 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 60.8 points or 1.6% at 3,681.7 and the broader All Ordinaries index was losing 48.8 points or 1.3% to 3,623.9.
The Australian dollar opened weaker as the biggest drop in European inflation on record boosted the U.S. currency. The Aussie opened at US$0.6531-0.6538, down from Friday's close of US$0.6561-0.6565.
U.S. stocks closed higher for a fifth day on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.4 points or 1.2% to 8,829.0, the S&P 500 index advanced 8.6 points or 1.0% to 896.2, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 3.5 points or 0.2% to 1,535.6.
Crude oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday after the OPEC deferred a decision to reduce output for another two weeks. Crude oil for January delivery fell as much as $1.28 to $53.15 a barrel by 7:38 p.m. ET in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, crude oil prices dropped one U.S. cent to settle at $54.43 a barrel.
On the economic front, activity in Australia's manufacturing sector fell sharply in November, according to the latest report from the Australian Industry Group and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The group's Performance of Manufacturing Index for November fell 7.7 points to a seasonally adjusted reading of 32.7.
Meanwhile, a private sector measure of inflation in Australia recorded a drop of 0.6% in November. The TD Securities/Melbourne Institute inflation gauge showed that inflation for the full year dropped 0.9% to 3.0%, the lowest reading since September 2007. The on-month inflation reading registered a 0.2% drop in October.
Big miners lost ground as base metal prices were soft on Friday. However, gold miners were mostly firmer on higher gold prices. BHP Billiton plunged 3.5% and Rio Tinto plummeted 5.1%. Fortescue Metals surged 38.8%. Among gold miners, Lihir Gold jumped 4.5% Newcrest Mining advanced 2.8%. The energy sector was weaker, with Woodside Petroleum falling 3.3% and Santos losing 2.8%.
