The Australian stock market experienced modest gains on Monday, recouping losses from the previous three sessions after positive signals from Wall Street on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 index remains above the 8,100.00 level, with notable gains in the financial and energy sectors.
Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has increased by 16.90 points, or 0.21%, sitting at 8,135.70, having reached an earlier peak of 8,153.50. The more comprehensive All Ordinaries Index has risen by 13.90 points, or 0.17%, to 8,393.60. Australian equities had closed sharply lower the preceding Friday.
In the mining sector, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are slightly down by 0.4% to 0.5%, while Rio Tinto has declined over 1%, and Mineral Resources has dropped more than 8%. This follows the revelation that Managing Director Chris Ellison will step down after an investigation revealed his misuse of company assets for personal gain.
Oil-related stocks are generally on the rise, with Origin Energy increasing by over 1%, and Beach Energy and Santos seeing gains of 0.2% to 0.3%. Conversely, Woodside Energy is down by nearly 1%.
Tech stocks show mixed performance. Block, the parent company of Afterpay, has fallen 1.5%, with Zip slightly down by 0.3% and Appen by almost 2%. However, Xero has gained over 1%, and WiseTech Global has seen an increase of nearly 2%.
Gold mining stocks present a varied picture. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are down by almost 1% each, whereas Northern Star Resources, Newmont, and Resolute Mining have edged up by 0.1% to 0.4%.
In the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank is marginally up by 0.3%, National Australia Bank has risen nearly 1%, ANZ Banking has slightly decreased by 0.1%, and Westpac remains unchanged.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.660 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks made a notable rebound on Friday following Thursday’s sell-off. Despite losing some gains during the day, they managed to maintain a strong positive position.
The Nasdaq, known for its tech-heavy composition, led the recovery with an increase of 144.77 points or 0.8% to 18,239.92, after a noticeable drop over the previous two sessions. The Dow also rose by 288.73 points, or 0.7%, to 42,052.19, recovering from its lowest closing level in over a month, while the S&P 500 increased by 23.35 points, or 0.4%, to 5,728.80.
In Europe, major markets moved upwards. Germany's DAX Index saw a gain of 0.9%, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and France's CAC 40 Index each climbing by 0.8%.
Crude oil prices rose on Thursday due to anticipated increased demand from the U.S. and a potential delay in OPEC's planned output increase scheduled for December. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December finished higher by $0.65, or 0.95%, at $69.26 a barrel.
