Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading notably higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,200.00 level to fresh all-time highs, with gains across most sectors led iron ore miners and energy stocks amid a spike in underlying commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 51.30 points or 0.63 percent to 8,263.50, after touching a high of 8,271.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 53.20 points or 0.63 percent to 8,530.00. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 3 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing almost 3 percent, Origin Energy is up almost 1 percent and Beach energy is adding almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, Zip is advancing almost 2 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are jumping almost 15 percent, rebounding after plummeting 44 percent on Friday.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday, with the major averages ending the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. The Dow rose to a new record closing high, but the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gave back ground.

While the Dow pulled back well off its highs of the session, the blue chip index still ended the day up 137.89 points or 0.3 percent at 42,313.00. The Nasdaq fell 70.70 points or 0.4 percent to 18,119.59 and the S&P 500 edged down 7.20 points or 0.1 percent to 5,738.17.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices closed higher on Friday as additional stimulus measures from the Chinese government eased concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.51 or at $68.18 a barrel.