Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400.00 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by losses in iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 47.80 points or 0.64 percent to 7,469.00, after touching a high of 7,481.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.20 points or 0.54 percent to 7,693.50. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is plunging almost 7 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent. BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy, Santos, Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are all edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Xero is gaining almost 2 percent, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing 1.5 percent and Zip is soaring 11 percent following a strong December quarter and guidance of $29 million and $33 million in earnings for the first half of its fiscal year. Meanwhile, Appen is plummeting 39 percent it lost a key $125 million contract with Google

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding 1.5 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 3 percent, while Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.3 percent.

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

In other news, Shares in Liontown Resources tumbled 20 percent on news it was reviewing the planned expansion of its WA lithium project Kathleen Valley due to weak spodumene prices.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Friday, adding to the strong gains posted during Thursday's session. With the continued upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 set new record closing highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached its best closing level in two years.

The major averages all close firmly in positive territory, with the Nasdaq posting a standout gain. The Nasdaq spiked 255.32 points or 1.7 percent to 15,310.97, the S&P 500 surged 58.87 points or 1.2 percent to 4,839.81 and the Dow jumped 395.19 points or 1.1 percent to 37,863.80.

Meanwhile, European stocks finished a choppy trading session little changed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed just above the unchanged line, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Friday, reflecting profit taking after recent gains while traders also weighed concerns about Middle East tensions against uncertainty about the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery fell $0.67 or 0.9 percent to $73.41 a barrel. The more actively trade March contract slumped $0.70 or 1.0 percent to $73.25 a barrel.