Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,100.00 level to near all-time highs, with gains is gold miners, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 20.20 points or 0.25 percent to 8,120.10, after touching a high of 8,145.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 17.10 points or 0.21 percent to 8,340.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing almost 2 percent, while BHP Group is edging up 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is up more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Beach energy is declining more than 1 percent. Santos is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip and WiseTech Global are adding almost 2 percent each. Appen is surging almost 8 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is surging almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is adding almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is up more than 2 percent, Newmont is gaining 1.5 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed higher for the fifth straight day, largely offsetting the steep losses posted last week.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 297.01 points or 0.7 percent to 41,393.78, the Nasdaq climbed 114.30 points or 0.7 percent to 17,683.98 and the S&P 500 rose 30.26 points or 0.5 percent to 5,626.02.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday on reports crude oil production resumed in several facilities along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $0.32 or 0.46 percent at $68.65 a barrel.