Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 6,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with strong gains in resources and energy stocks amid the spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 20.40 points or 0.30 percent to 6,912.90, after touching a high of 6,892.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 20.30 points or 0.29 percent to 7,109.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 3 percent each, while BHP Group is advancing almost 4 percent, OZ Minerals is up almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Santos is edging up 0.4 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and Zip is flat.

Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources is surging almost 6 percent, Newcrest Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is adding almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is soaring more than 7 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent and Westpac is declining 3.5 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility during trading on Friday before eventually ending the session sharply higher. With the strong upward move, the major averages regained ground after closing lower for four straight sessions.

The major averages all posted strong gains on the day. The Dow jumped 401.97 points or 1.3 percent to 32,403.22, the Nasdaq surged 132.31 points or 1.3 percent to 10,475.25 and the S&P 500 shot up 50.66 points or 1.4 percent to 3,770.55.

The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index spiked by 2.8 percent, the German DAX Index shot up by 2.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 2.0 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand. A weak dollar and fears of a ban by the European Union on Russian oil also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $4.44 or 5 percent at $92.61 a barrel.