Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets on Friday, with gains in mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.40 points or 0.15 percent to 6,749.50, after touching a high of 6,753.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 8.80 points or 0.13 percent to 6,984.00. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly weak. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Santos and Origin Energy are flat.

Among tech stocks, Xero is edging down 0.3 percent and Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is advancing 1.5 percent. Zip is flat.

Gold miners are higher, Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is adding 1.5 percent, Newcrest Mining is up almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is rising more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while Westpac is edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.672 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Friday after coming under pressure over the course of Thursday's session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, ending the session at their lowest closing levels in two months.

The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session going into the close but remained in negative territory. The Dow fell 139.40 points or 0.5 percent to 30,822.42, the Nasdaq slumped 103.95 points or 0.9 percent to 11,448.40 and the S&P 500 slid 28.02 points or 0.7 percent to 3,873.33.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dove 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Friday following the resumption of oil exports from Iraq's Basra oil terminal, where a spillage had forced disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for October settled at $85.11 a barrel, up $0.01 from the previous close. WTI crude futures shed nearly 2 percent in the week.