Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the sharp losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving a tad above the 8,200.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 30.40 points or 0.37 percent to 8,202.80, after touching a high of 8,234.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 31.60 points or 0.38 percent to 8,435.50. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is slipping almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 3 percent, Xero is gaining more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent and Appen is adding almost 2 percent, while Zip is sliding almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent and Newmont is adding more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment have been suspended from trading after the casino operator failed to lodge accounts to the ASX.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.622 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility during trading on Friday following the significant pullback seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages swung wildly back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing sharply higher.

The major averages showed strong moves to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq surged 302.86 points or 1.6 percent to 18,847.28, the S&P 500 shot up 92.93 points or 1.6 percent to 5,954.50 and the Dow jumped 601.41 points or 1.4 percent to 43,840.91.

The major European markets also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Friday as worries about growth and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand weighed on the commodity's prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April closed down $0.59 or about 0.84 percent at $69.76 a barrel.