Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,300 level, following the positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, boosted by gains across most sectors, led by mining and energy stocks amid a spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 37.90 points or 0.52 percent to 7,316.20, after touching a high of 7,340.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 33.70 points or 0.45 percent to 7,523.60. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Beach energy is adding almost 3 percent and Santos is advancing 1.5 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Zip is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Newcrest Mining is up more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent, while Westpac is edging down 0.1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In other news, shares is Liontown Resources are jumping more than 9 percent after indicating it will accept a sweetened $6.6 billion takeover offer from US giant Albemarle following a binding offer at the price.

Shares in SkyCity Entertainment are plunging almost 17 percent after the gambling outlet said its New Zealand licence is under threat of being suspended for about 10 days for failing to comply with a responsibility program.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.646 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday but quickly gave back ground and showed a lack of direction over the remainder of the session. The major averages pulled back off their early highs and spent much of the day lingering near the unchanged line.

The Dow managed to spend most of the day in positive territory before closing up 115.80 points or 0.3 percent at 34,837.71. The S&P 500 also rose 8.11 points or 0.2 percent to 4,515.77, while the Nasdaq edged down 3.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 14,031.81, snapping a five-day winning streak.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index increased 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending recent gains over supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery surged $1.92 or 2.3 percent to $85.55 a barrel, closing higher for the seventh straight session. The price of crude oil soared 7.2 percent for the week.