Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - After opening in the red, the Australian stock market is slightly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in mining and technology stocks nearly offset by weakness in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 1.50 points or 0.02 percent to 7,050.10, after hitting a low of 7,014.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 3.20 points or 0.04 percent to 7,252.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are edging up 0.3 percent each. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is declining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Appen is gaining almost 1 percent and Zip is advancing almost 4 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Evolution Mining, Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are adding almost 1 percent each. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Westpac is flat.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in September, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.7. That's down from 49.6 in August, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.643 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned weak after a firm start on Friday, and among the major averages, the Nasdaq managed to settle slightly higher, while the Dow and the S&P 500 ended on a negative note. Activity was mostly stock specific with earnings updates and other corporate news providing some direction.

The Dow, which rose to 33,893.68 in early trades, ended the day's session at 33,507.50, losing 158.84 points or 0.47 percent. The S&P 500 ended down 11.65 points or 0.27 percent at 4,288.05, while the Nasdaq settled at 13,219.32, gaining 18.05 points or 0.14 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. Germany's DAX climbed 0.41 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.26 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.08 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday, with a bit of profit taking and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand weighing on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $0.92 or 1 percent at $90.79 a barrel. WTI crude futures added 0.8 percent in the week and 8.5 percent in September.