Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in gold miners and technology stocks partially offset by losses in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.10 points or 0.26 percent to 6,973.30, after touching a high of 6,989.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 19.80 points or 0.28 percent to 7,157.40. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent. Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent and OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 2 percent, Santos is declining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Appen is adding almost 3 percent and Zip is surging almost 6 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Friday but staged a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages all moved to the upside as the day progressed, adding to the gains posted on Thursday. The Dow climbed 132.28 points or 0.4 percent to 32,237.53, the Nasdaq rose 36.56 points or 0.3 percent to 11,823.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.27 points or 0.6 percent to 3,970.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both tumbled by 1.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns that rising interest rates might hurt growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.70 or 1 percent at $69.26 a barrel.