Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, snapping a seven-session winning streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,200.00 level, with gains is iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 17.90 points or 0.22 percent to 8,220.10, after hitting a low of 8,208.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 14.70 points or 0.17 percent to 8,441.50. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining almost 2 percent, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.5 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent, Santos is losing more than 2 percent, Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent, Appen is advancing almost 5 percent and Zip is gaining more than 3 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is soaring more than 9 percent after it agreed to sweetened $3.7 billion takeover offer from South African gold mining giant Gold Fields Ltd., while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Newmont is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent. ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a services PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 51.6 in March, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, with the major averages reaching their best closing levels in a month. The S&P 500 closed higher for the ninth consecutive session, marking its longest winning streak in over twenty years.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the session but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 266.99 points or 1.5 percent to 19,977.73, the S&P 500 shot up 82.53 points or 1.5 percent to 5,686.67 and the Dow jumped 564.47 points or 1.4 percent to 41,317.43.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is surged by 2.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a significant move back to the downside on Friday on concerns that OPEC would accelerate production, which did indeed happen over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $0.95 or 1.6 percent to $58.29 a barrel. Crude plunged 7.5 percent for the week.