Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,650.00 level, with gains across most other sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 61.50 points or 0.71 percent to 8,682.90, after touching a high of 8,683.30 and a low of 8,599.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 61.50 points or 0.69 percent to 8,979.80. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent, Fortescue is advancing almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 2 percent, Zip is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Appen is surging almost 7 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Genesis Minerals are adding almost 3 percent each, while Resolute Mining is up 2.5 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent and Newmont is advancing almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in NextDC are jumping more than 7 percent after the data centre operator announced an increase in contracted utilization, reaching 412MW following recent customer contract wins, significantly exceeding earlier expectations.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending the significant rebound seen over the course of Thursday's session. With the upward move, the major averages further offset the weakness seen earlier in the week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq reached new highs for the session going into the end of the day, closing up 301.26 points or 1.3 percent at 23,307.62. The S&P 500 also jumped 59.74 points or 0.9 percent to 6,834.50, while the narrower Dow rose 183.04 points or 0.4 percent to 48,134.89.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices increased on Friday amid concerns of a supply side disruption due to brewing U.S.-Venezuela tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up by $0.47 or 0.84 percent at $56.62 per barrel.