Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying above the 8,100.00 level, with gains in financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.90 points or 0.21 percent to 8,135.70, after touching of 8,153.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.90 points or 0.17 percent to 8,393.60. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is plunging more than 8 percent on news that managing director Chris Ellison will step down after the board found he used the company's resources for his personal benefits.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Santos is edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 1.5 percent, Zip is edging down 03 percent and Appen is down almost 2 percent, while Xero is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources, Newmont and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent and National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent. Westpac is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside in early trading on Friday following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session. The major averages gave back some ground over the course of the trading day but remained firmly in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 144.77 points or 0.8 percent to 18,239.92 after moving sharply lower over two previous sessions. The Dow also climbed 288.73 points or 0.7 percent to 42,052.19, bouncing off its lowest closing level in over a month, while the S&P 500 rose 23.35 points or 0.4 percent to 5,728.80.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday amid expectations of increased demand from the U.S. and a likely delay in OPEC's planned output increase from December. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.65 or 0.95 percent at $69.26 a barrel.