Australian stocks started the week with losses early Monday, taking cues from softer oil and iron-ore prices, as well as Wall Street's lower finish at the end of the previous week. The S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.41% was 0.5% below its last close, as front-month futures for Brent crude slipped below $50 a barrel, hitting energy names (Santos Ltd. STO, -2.60% STOSF, +4.61% down 2.2%, Oil Search Ltd. OSH, -1.77% OISHF, +4.01% down 1.8%), but with airline shares failing to get the usual boost (Qantas Airways Ltd. QAN, -1.80% QUBSF, -4.29%down 1.4%, Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. VAH, -2.30% VBHLF, -0.86% down 1.2%). Iron miners saw heavier losses, with Arrium Ltd. ARI, -3.45% ARRMF, -14.29%down 3.5%, BC Iron Ltd. BCI, -2.82% down 2.8%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.FMG, -2.88% FSUMF, +2.73% down 1.8%, as Dow Jones Newswires reported spot iron-ore prices dropping back below the psychologically important $70-per-metric-ton handle. Banks were mixed amid the negative cue from the U.S. (Westpac Banking Corp. WBC, +0.16% WEBNF, -0.58% up 0.1%, National Australia Bank Ltd.NAB, -0.44% NAUBF, -1.80% down 0.4%), though gold miners tracked rising gold futures to sharp gains (Evolution Mining Ltd. EVN, +5.25% CAHPF, +6.00% up 5.6%, Perseus Mining Ltd. PRU, +8.77% PMNXF, +1.43% up 10.5%). Shares of Fairfax Media Ltd. FXJ, +0.80% FFXLF, -28.02% rose 2.3% as the market signaled its apparent approval of the company buying the rest of Metro Media Publishing Holdings in a $72 million cash-and-stock deal, according to a separate Dow Jones report.