Australian Market Marginally Higher

The Australian stock market is marginally higher in chopping trading on Monday, extending the gains of the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying around the 7,200 mark near all-time highs, following the broadly positive from Wall Street on Friday.Gold miners, technology and financial stocks are leading the gains.

Investor sentiment is upbeat amid optimism for a global economic recovery with stronger than expected data last week.

Meanwhile, traders remain concerned about the rising COVID-19 infection cases in the country’s second-most populous state, which went into a 7-day lockdown over the weekend as a cluster of new cases grew in Victoria. The department of health confirmed there are now 46 active cases in the state.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 3.00 points or 0.04 percent to 7,182.50, after touching a high of 7,203.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 1.40 points or 0.02 percent to 7,422.60. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are lower after crude oil prices tumbled. Oil Search, Santos and Beach energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum and Origin Energy are down almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is flat, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is adding 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Appen are edging up 0.4 percent each, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are higher after gold climbed. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is up almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is surging almost 5 percent and Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Nuix are plummeting almost 17 percent after the software company lowered its full-year forecasts for the second time since listing in December as its revenues could take a hit due to further trouble with new and existing customer contracts.

Link Administration Hldgs decided to boost its shareholding in property settlements platform PEXA and list it on the ASX next month after rejecting a number of takeover offers. Link shares are down more than 5 percent.

In economic news, Australia will see April figures for private sector credit; in March, credit was up 1.0 percent on month and 0.4 percent on year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.772 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Friday, amid rising optimism about economic recovery thanks to upbeat economic data, and prospects of additional fiscal stimulus. However, the gains were just modest for all the major averages s buying interest remained somewhat subdued.

The Dow closed up by 64.81 points or 0.19 percent at 34,529.45, more than 100 points down from the day’s high. The Nasdaq, which rose to 13,820.87, settled with a gain of 12.46 points or 0.09 percent at 13,748.74, almost at the day’s low. The S&P 500 ended up by 3.23 points or 0.08 percent at 4,204.11.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up 0.04 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index gained 0.75 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures settled lower Friday, snapping a five-day winning streak as traders took profits ahead to the upcoming OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July fell $0.53 or 0.8 percent at $66.32 a barrel.

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