Australian Market Notably Higher

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the positive cues from global markets on Friday, boosted by gains across most sectors, led by gold miners and and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 38.50 points or 0.54 percent to 7,153.70, after touching a high of 7,155.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 29.70 points or 0.41 percent to 7,362.30. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is sliding more than 5 percent after reporting a drop in full-year revenues and net profit.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is gaining more than 3 percent, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is plummeting almost 24 percent after reporting a statutory loss and a 24 percent drop in first-half revenues and warned of continued headwinds.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is up almost 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.2 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks started off on a firm note on Friday and despite suffering a setback around mid-morning, recovered swiftly and stayed firm right till the end of the day’s session to finish on a strong note. Investors reacted positively to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

The major averages all closed on a firm note, with the tech-laden Nasdaq outperforming the other indexes. The Dow settled with a gain of 247.48 points or 0.73 percent at 34,346.90, the S&P 500 climbed 29.40 points or 0.67 percent to settle at 4,405.71 and the Nasdaq closed with a gain of 126.67 points or 0.94 percent at 13,590.65.

The major European markets showed notable moves to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE and Germany’s DAX both ended up by 0.07 percent, and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.21 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday, despite some disappointing economic data from Germany and a fairly strong U.S. dollar, amid tightening supply due to production cuts from OPEC and its major allies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.78 or about 1 percent at $79.83 a barrel.

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