Australian Markets Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,700.00 level, with gains in energy and financial partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.50 points or 0.40 percent to 8,716.60, after touching a high of 8,735.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.20 points or 0.40 percent to 8,889.90. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.4 percent. Fortescue is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Santos is gaining more than 1 percent. Beach energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are edging up 0.4 percent each, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and Zip is edging down 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.695 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground after an early surge but continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading session on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside, adding to the modest gains posted during Thursday's session.

The major averages ended the day well off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 319.27 points or 1.2 percent to 27,190.86, the S&P 500 advanced 56.27 points or 0.7 percent to 7,722.72 and the Dow climbed 250.40 points or 0.5 percent to 51,176.96.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday following reports that the European Union may release diesel reserves to help cool surging fuel prices linked to the Iran war. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.17 or 1.3 percent to $91.70 per barrel.