Australian Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 6,800 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with strong gains across most sectors, led by technology and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 124.00 points or 1.86 percent to 6,800.80, after touching a high of 6,823.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 129.10 points or 1.88 percent to 6,999.00. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent, Santos is adding almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is gaining almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Zip is surging almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent, Xero is advancing more than 4 percent and Appen is up almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are strong, Gold Road Resources is surging almost 7 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 5 percent and Evolution Mining is soaring almost 9 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in October, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.8. That's down from 53.5 in September, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell to a score of 49.0 from 50.6, while the composite also fell into contraction at 49.6 - down from 50.9 in September.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility in early trading on Friday but moved sharply higher over the course of the session. The major averages more than offset the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, with the Dow reaching its best closing level in over a month.

The major averages reached new highs for the session late in the trading day. The Dow soared 748.97 points or 2.5 percent to 31,082.56, the Nasdaq surged 244.87 points or 2.3 percent to 10,859.72 and the S&P 500 spiked 86.97 points or 2.4 percent to 3,752.75.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday amid hopes demand for oil in China will see an increase soon. A likely ban on Russian oil by the European Union and a weak dollar also fueled oil's uptick. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $85.05 a barrel.