The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying well above the 8,400.00 level, with gains in iron ore miners and financial stocks were partially offset by weakness in gold miner stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 20.40 points or 0.24 percent to 8,456.60, after touching a high of 8,466.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 17.50 points or 0.20 percent to 8,716.60. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is flat.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 1.5 percent, while Appen and Zip are down almost 1 percent each. Xero is edging up 0.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is down 1.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 6 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is losing more than 4 percent, while Gold Road Resources is soaring more than 12 percent as it’s the largest shareholder in De Grey, which agreed to be acquired by Northern Star Resources.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are relatively flat.
In other news, shares in De Grey are skyrocketing almost 29 percent after it agreed to a $5 billion acquisition deal from Northern Star Resources.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in November, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.4. That’s up from 47.3 in October, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside on Friday as trading resumed following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday following the pullback seen during Wednesday’s session. With the rebound, the major averages more than offset the previous session’s losses, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow rose 188.59 points or 0.4 percent to 44,910.65, the Nasdaq advanced 157.69 points or 0.8 percent to 19,218.17 and the S&P 500 climbed 33.64 points or 0.6 percent to 6,032.38.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Friday after OPEC postponed its meeting to Dec. 5, despite expectations the group will delay production increases. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January shed $0.72 or 1.1 percent at $68.00 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 4.5 percent in the week.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Modestly Higher
2024-12-02 01:37:37
