Australian Market Modestly Higher In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher in mid-market trading on Monday after opening in the green and slipping in to the red in most of the morning session, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 9,000.00 mark, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.50 points or 0.14 percent to 9,033.30, after hitting a low of 8,968.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 23.30 points or 0.25 percent to 9,168.00. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent and Fortescue is up more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Genesis Minerals is adding more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is advancing almost 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is declining almost 3 percent and Westpac is down more than 1 percent.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 17,948. That was in line with expectations following the 5.2 percent decline in August. On a yearly basis, permits sank -0.8 percent - again matching forecasts following the 12.1 percent spike in the previous month.

Permits for private sector houses were down 5.3 percent on month and up 9.6 percent on year at 10,432. Permits for private sector dwellings excluding houses jumped 16.6 percent on month and tumbled 20.5 percent on year.

The value of residential building fell 2.8 percent to A$11.06 billion, while the value of non-residential building surged 45.9 percent to A$7.96 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Monday.