Australian Markets Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly 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 well above the 8,650.00 level, with gains in mining stocks nearly offset by weakness in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 6.80 points or 0.08 percent to 8,663.80, after hitting a low of 8,644.70 and a high of 8,664.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 8.30 points or 0.09 percent to 8,885.50. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly loser. Beach energy and Santos are down more than 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining more than 3 percent, while Zip and WiseTech Global are down more than 1 percent each. Xero is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont, Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are surging almost 5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.716 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks pulled back sharply over the course of the trading day on Friday following the strength seen in the previous session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside on the day.

The major averages finished the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Dow slumped 537.29 points or 1.1 percent to 49,526.17, the Nasdaq plunged 410.08 points or 1.5 percent to 26,225.14 and the S&P 500 tumbled 92.74 points or 1.2 percent to 7,408.50.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. While the German DAX Index dove by 2.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index shed 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday after the U.S.-China summit ended with no announcement of Chinese intervention to end the gulf war, leaving the Strait of Hormuz blockade in place. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $4.18 or 4.13 percent at $105.35 per barrel.