Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market trading on Monday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,550.00 level, with gains is financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 35.90 points or 0.42 percent to 8,550.10, after touching a high of 8,551.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 34.60 points or 0.40 percent to 8,778.20. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Santos is gaining almost 1 percent. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block gaining more than 4 percent, Zip is advancing almost 4 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent, while Appen is losing more than 2 percent. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent, Newmont is losing almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 4 percent.

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

In other news, share in James Hardie jumped more than 7 percent after shareholders in US outdoor decking company Azek approved a $14 billion buyout, with James Hardie shifting its primary listing to the NYSE.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Monday.