Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,800 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with strength is mining and energy stocks amid a rebound in commodity prices.

Traders also await the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision on Tuesday, with the RBA widely tipped to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 15.20 points or 0.22 percent to 6,843.90, after touching a high of 6,858.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 11.80 points or 0.17 percent to 7,068.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is up almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding 1.5 percent and OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining more than 2 percent, Beach energy is surging almost 5 percent, Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero is edging down 0.1 percent, Zip is down almost 1 percent, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping 3.5 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher, Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is adding more than 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is up more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is rising almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.3 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks regained ground in morning trading on Friday but once again came under pressure over the course of the trading day after trending lower in recent sessions. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and into negative territory.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained sharply lower. The Dow tumbled 337.98 points or 1.1 percent to 31,318.44. the Nasdaq tumbled 154.26 points or 1.3 percent to 11,630.87 and the S&P 500 clumped 42.59 points or 1.1 percent to 3,924.26.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed substantial moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index soared by 3.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped 1.9 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher Friday on rising prospects for a reduction in output from OPEC and allies. But prices were down for the week amid worries about outlook for energy demand due to concerns about slowing global growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September rose $0.26 or 0.3 percent at $86.87 a barrel; they were down 6.7 percent in the week.