Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,800.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.60 points or 0.49 percent to 8,816.10, after touching a high of 8,819.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 44.50 points or 0.49 percent to 9,105.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is declining more than 1 percent and Beach energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Appen and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Zip and Xero are adding more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are surging more than 5 percent each, while is adding more than 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in Starpharma are skyrocketing more than 73 percent after the biotech inked a licensing agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to develop new cancer therapies.

Shares in Reece Ltd. are jumping more than 14 percent after the plumbing supplies group announced plans to buy back $250 million of shares.

Shares in Viva Energy are tumbling almost 10 percent after announcing the resignation of C&M CEO Jevan Bouzo, with Jennifer Gray stepping in as Interim CEO and Group CEO Scott Wyatt overseeing the retail strategy. However, it reaffirms its 2025 outlook.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, adding to the gains posted during Thursday's session. With the continued upward move, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.

The major averages reached new highs late in the session before giving back some ground going into the close. The Nasdaq advanced 160.75 points or 0.7 percent to 22,631.48, the S&P 500 climbed 32.40 points or 0.5 percent to 6,664.36 and the Dow rose 172.85 points or 0.4 percent to 46,315.27.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly lower over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.