Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors, led by mining stocks after iron ore and gold prices firmed.

Data showing a drop in U.S. wage growth and a contraction in U.S. service sector activity in the month of December also helped ease concerns about aggressive policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 58.30 points or 0.82 percent to 7,167.90, after touching a high of 7,186.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 61.80 points or 0.85 percent to 7,370.60. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

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

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

Gold miners are strong. Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining, Newcrest Mining are adding more than 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is surging 4.5 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.690 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a fine performance on Friday after opening on a slightly cautious note, and the major averages all ended with strong gains.

The Dow ended with a gain of 700.53 points or 2.13 percent at 33,630.61. The S&P 500 surged 86.98 points or 2.28 percent at 3,895.08, while the Nasdaq climbed 264.05 points or 2.56 percent to 10,569.29.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.87 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 1.2 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended stronger by 1.47 percent.

Crude oil prices settled flat on Friday as fears of a global recession raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $73.77 a barrel, up just 10 cents from the previous close.