Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,000.00 mark, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 79.60 points or 1.00 percent to 8,047.80, after touching a high of 8,051.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 79.20 points or 0.97 percent to 8,254.30. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday ahead of the holiday on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is adding more than 2 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 2 percent and Appen is surging 4.5 percent, while Zip and Xero is advancing almost 3 percent each.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Brambles are slipping almost 6 percent after it trimmed its sales revenue growth forecast for the financial year to account for the impact of an uncertain market outlook on consumer demand.

Shares in Ainsworth are skyrocketing more than 32 percent after majority shareholder Novomatic said it would acquire all outstanding shares in the gaming machine manufacturer in a deal that values it at $336.8 million.

Shares in Telix are tumbling almost 9 percent after a US regulator did not approve its new drug application.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.639 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday after turning in a lackluster performance early in the session. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed before eventually closing in positive territory.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly positive, closing higher for the fourth straight session. The Nasdaq jumped 216.90 points or 1.3 percent to 17,382.94 and the S&P 500 climbed 40.44 points or 0.7 percent to 5,525.21, while the narrower Dow inched up 20.10 points or 0.1 percent to 40,113.50.

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

Crude oil prices moved modestly higher on Friday amid signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.23 or 0.4 percent to $63.02 a barrel. For the week, crude for June delivery tumbled $0.99 a barrel or 1.6 percent.