Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 7,800.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 58.90 points or 0.76 percent to 7,848.60, after touching a high of 7,858.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 66.60 points or 0.83 percent to 8,079.90. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 4 percent. Mineral Resources is surging more than 8 percent after UBS upgraded the stock to "Buy." Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 2 percent and Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Xero is adding almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Spartan Resources are rallying more than 9 percent after it confirmed reports of its merger with Ramelius Resources. Shares in Smartpay Holdings are skyrocketing more than 47 percent after confirming it was in takeover talks with at least two parties after its shares were smashed on the central bank's decision to put debit card surcharges under the microscope.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.633 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Friday following the sell-off seen over the course of Thursday's session. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain.

The major averages reached new highs for the session going into the close of trading. The Nasdaq soared 451.07 points or 2.6 percent to 17,754.09, the S&P 500 surged 117.42 points or 2.1 percent to 5,638.94 and the Dow jumped 674.62 points or 1.7 percent to 41,488.19.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both jumped by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday as worries about excess supply in the market eased after the U.S. government announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.63 or 1 percent at $67.18 a barrel.