Australian Market Modestly Higher

The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving to near the 8,200.00 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 17.10 points or 0.21 percent to 8,167.10, after touching of 8,183.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 20.80 points or 0.25 percent to 8,437.40. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent, Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Santos is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Xero is edging up 0.4 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent and Zip is advancing almost 5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Newmont and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.5 percent and Westpac is adding more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Arcadium Lithium are skyrocketing 44 percent after Rio Tinto confirmed it was considering buying Arcadium.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Friday, lifting the major averages to a firm close, as upbeat non-farm payroll data helped offset concerns about Middle East tensions and prompted investors to indulge in some brisk buying at several counters from across various sectors.

The Dow settled at a fresh record high at 42,352.75, gaining 341.16 points or 0.81 percent, the S&P 500 closed up 51.13 points or 0.9 percent at 5,751.07, and the Nasdaq climbed 219.37 points or 1.22 percent to settle at 18,137.85.

Meanwhile, the major European markets were mixed on the day. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.55 percent and 0.85 percent, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged down slightly.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday on concerns about a possible attack on Iran’s oil facilities by Israel, while upbeat U.S. jobs data also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.67 or 0.91 percent at $74.38 a barrel, a five-week high. WTI crude futures gained more than 9 percent in the week.

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