Australian Market Significantly Higher

The Australian stock market is currently trading significantly higher on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,800.00 level, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 50.70 points or 0.65 percent to 7,821.30, after touching a high of 7,844.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 53.50 points or 0.67 percent to 8,079.80. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is surging more than 4 percent.

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

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources are losing more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.1 percent.

In other news, shares in McGrath are soaring 24 percent after the board of the real estate company backed a takeover offer from Knight Frank and Bayleys.

Shares in MMA Offshore are surging 10 percent after the oil and gas company received a takeover offer from Seraya Partners subsidiary Cyan Renewables.

Scrap metal recycler Sims is 4.5 per cent higher at $12.43 following a note from UBS that suggested the company was likely to sell its UK metals unit for above book value.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday after trending higher over the past several sessions. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session before eventually ending the day mixed.

While the Nasdaq inched up 26.98 points or 0.2 percent to a new record closing high of 16,428.82, the S&P 500 edged down 7.35 points or 0.1 percent to 5,234.18 and the Dow slid 305.47 points or 0.8 percent to 39,475.90.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, as the dollar rose sharply with the Federal Reserve set to hold interest rates higher for now. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.44 at $80.63 a barrel.

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