Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors, led by energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.10 points or 0.58 percent to 7,351.30, after touching a high of 7,368.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.90 points or 0.56 percent to 7,542.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources and BHP Group are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are adding more than 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Xero and Afterpay owner Block are edging up 0.3 percent each, while Appen is gaining more than 4 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.4 percent and Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in April, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Monday with a 35-month low manufacturing PMI score of 48.0. That's down from 49.1 in March and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday after initially showing a lack of direction. The major averages extended Thursday's rally, with the Nasdaq reaching a seven-month closing high, while the Dow and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over two months.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 272.00 points or 0.8 percent to 34,098.16, the Nasdaq rose 84.35 points or 0.7 percent to 12,226.58 and the S&P 500 advanced 34.13 points or 0.8 percent to 4,169.48.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday as traders weighed crude supply and near-term energy demand prospects. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $2.02 or about 2.7 percent at $76.78 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed about 1.4 percent in the week, but gained nearly 1 percent in April.