Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,200.00 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.80 points or 0.18 percent to 7,207.70, after touching a high of 7,226.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.50 points or 0.20 percent to 7,420.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 1 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is advancing almost 3 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are adding more than 1 percent each. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Zip are gaining almost 2 percent each. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent, Newmont is declining almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is down 1.5 percent, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Pact Group are surging almost 23 percent after the packaging company's largest shareholder outside Raphael Geminder sweetened its offer to sell shares held by it.

Shares in Bubs Australia are gaining almost 6 percent after the infant formula company forecast US revenue to double in the 2024 financial year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated early in the trading day on Friday but moved mostly higher over the course of the session. The major averages added to the gains posted during Thursday's session, reaching their highest closing levels in well over a year.

The major averages reached new highs late in the session but gave back some ground going into the close. The Dow rose 130.49 points or 0.4 percent to 36,247.87, the Nasdaq advanced 63.98 points or 0.5 percent to 14,403.97 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.78 points or 0.4 percent to 4,604.37.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked sharply on Friday after Saudi Arabia and Russia urged the members of OPEC to join an output cut agreement. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.89 or 2.7 percent at $71.23 a barrel, snapping a six-day losing streak.