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 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors, led by energy and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 48.30 points or 0.67 percent to 7,268.30, after touching a high of 7,292.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 49.10 points or 0.66 percent to 7,462.20. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing 3.5 percent and BHP Group is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 3 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, Zip is adding more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 5 percent and Appen is down almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are adding almost 2 percent each. ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent. Westpac reported a profit of $4 billion for the first-half that surged 22 percent from last year. The bank also boosted dividend by 15 percent.

In other news, shares in Lynas are surging more than 10 percent after the rare earths miner's license to import and process lanthanide concentrate was extended by the Malaysian government.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower higher during trading on Friday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past several sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves back to the upside, with the Dow bouncing off its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Dow jumped 546.64 points or 1.7 percent to 33,674.38, the Nasdaq spiked 269.01 points or 2.3 percent to 12,235.41 and the S&P 500 surged 75.03 points or 1.9 percent to 4,136.25.

The major European markets all also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index surged by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on easing recession concerns in some of the world's major economies. The West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $2.78 or 4.1 percent at $71.34 a barrel.