The Australian stock market is currently making significant gains and recouping from losses from previous trading sessions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has moved above the 7,600.00-level, demonstrating the generally positive cues from global markets last Friday, particularly in technology and financial stocks.
Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has increased by 37.50 points or 0.50 percent to 7,613.40, briefly reaching a high of 7,638.70. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index has ascended 40.20 points or 0.51 percent to 7,877.60. This rise followed a significant drop in Australian stocks last Friday.
Major miner stocks have seen varied performance. BHP Group and Fortescue Metals have both seen a slight decrease of 0.5 percent. However, Mineral Resources is up almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto has also seen a minor increase of 0.5 percent. The performance of oil stocks is also mixed, with Origin Energy and Woodside Energy each increasing from 0.2 to 0.4 percent, and Beach Energy seeing a nearly 1 percent rise. Santos, on the other hand, has declined 0.4 percent.
In the technology sector, Afterpay's owner Block, Xero, and Appen have made significant gains, with Appen increasing by more than 3 percent, whereas WiseTech Global rose by close to 1 percent and Zip saw a large surge near 6 percent.
Gold mining stocks are showing mixed results. While Gold Road Resources is down by 1.5 percent and Newmont almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining, Evolution Mining, and Northern Star Resources recorded increases.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are each up by nearly 1 percent, and Westpac and ANZ Banking have seen minor increases ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 percent.
In other developments, shares in Megaport have dropped over 5 percent because of disappointing recurring revenue and KPIs, despite recent updates in FY24 EBITDA guidance. Boss Energy shares skyrocketed over 6 percent after releasing its first quarterly report since uranium production began at its Honeymoon project located in South Australia.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.655 as of Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks significantly increased during Friday’s session, reversing the previous day's downturn. All major averages saw increases, with the Nasdaq taking the lead. The Nasdaq surged 316.14 points or 2.0 percent to 15,927.90, the S&P 500 jumped 51.54 points or 1.0 percent to 5,099.96 and the Dow climbed 153.86 points or 0.4 percent to 38,239.66.
European markets also moved upwards. The German DAX index increased by 1.4 percent, with the French CAC 40 Index, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advancing by 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Friday also saw Crude oil prices edge higher, driven by optimism about oil demand and supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June increased by $0.28 or 0.34 percent, ending at $83.85 a barrel. Overall, WTI crude futures gained 0.85 percent over the past week.
