June 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Monday, pulled down by a slide in global equities on Friday as U.S. jobs data signalled the Federal Reserve will likely continue raising interest rates to ease inflation.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.4% at 7,211.80 by 0038 GMT, with most sub-indexes in red. The benchmark closed 0.9% higher on Friday.
In other key markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3% at 27,685.43 and S&P 500 E-minis futures rose 0.1%.
Back home, metals and mining index declined 1%, with Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group falling between 0.5% and 1%.
Financials retreated 0.4%. National Australia Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group dropped 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.
Domestic technology stocks were the lead laggards on the local bourse, tumbling 1.9% as they tracked Wall Street's weak finish from Friday.
ASX-listed Block, Xero and WiseTech Global were down between 4.7% and 1.8%.
Gold stocks lost 1.3% as prices of the metal fell on Friday. Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources were down 0.2% and 1.3%, respectively.
On the upside, energy stocks gained 1.7% and were on track to hit an over two-year high as oil prices rose in early trade after Saudi Arabia raised prices sharply for its crude sales in July.
Oil and gas major Woodside Energy Group climbed 2.2% in its fourth straight session of gains.
Meanwhile, Santos rose 1.4% to hit an over two-year high after the gas producer said on Sunday it is taking steps, along with its joint venture partner Beach Energy, to increase domestic supply of the energy resource.
Separately, a Reuters poll found that Australia's central bank will raise rates by a modest 25 basis points (bps) at its June 7 meeting, while nearly a third of the respondents predicted a larger 40 bps hike.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index did not trade on account of a public holiday. (Reporting by Upasana Singh; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
