The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, thanks to strong gains in energy and materials shares following a surge in commodity prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.60 points or 0.57 percent to 7,520.60, after touching a high of 7,521.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 43.90 points or 0.57 percent to 7,815.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while OZ Minerals is edging up 0.5 percent. Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are flat.
Oil stocks are higher, with Beach energy gaining more than 2 percent, Woodside Petroleum adding almost 1 percent, Origin Energy edging up 0.3 percent and Santos up more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Appen and WiseTech Global are losing more than 2 percent each, while Block, Zip and Xero are slipping more than 1 percent each.
Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding 1.5 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is rising more than 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.5 percent each.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.744 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday after they all ended a volatile session on Thursday in positive territory.
While the Dow saw further upside, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gave back ground. The Dow rose 137.55 points or 0.4 percent to 34,721.12, but the Nasdaq tumbled 186.30 points or 1.3 percent to 13,711.00 and the S&P 500 fell 11.93 points or 0.3 percent to 4,488.28.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday, but still posted a weekly loss, going down for a second straight week amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand, and the move by the IEA to release oil from its reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended up by 2.3 percent at $98.26 a barrel. However, the contract shed 1.2 percent in the week.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Modestly Higher
2022-04-11 01:27:55