Australian Markets Modestly Higher

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,800.00 level, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.20 points or 0.16 percent to 8,820.90, after touching a high of 8,849.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.50 points or 0.11 percent to 8,949.90. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.3 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each. Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent and Xero is slipping almost 4 percent, while Appen and Zip are down almost 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are declining almost 2 percent each. Newmont is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all gaining almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Cleanaway are soaring almost 20 percent on news the Swedish buyout giant EQT had signed a deal to take the waste management company private.

Shares in Challenger are spiking more than 17 percent on news that the annuities giant is considering a takeover offer from Japan’s Daiichi Life worth $7.8 billion.

Shares in Ingenia Communities are surging more than 7 percent ahead of the decision deadline given by US private equity group Warburg Pincus for its $2.14 billion takeover offer.

Shares in Mesoblast are tumbling more than 9 percent after reporting in a quarterly update that its revenue and sales fell well short of market expectations.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move back to the downside during trading on Friday after recovering from an early slump to end Thursday’s session mostly higher. Technology stocks led the way lower, dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq down to its lowest closing level in a month.

The Nasdaq ended the day off its lows of the session but still plunged 572.99 points or 2.1 percent to 26,140.03. The S&P 500 also slumped 84.62 points or 1.1 percent to 7,659.44, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, falling 175.28 points or 0.3 percent to 52,002.41.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices rallied again on Friday, surging above $100 a barrel for the first time in a month as Iran re-escalated its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery spiked $3.33 or 3.4 percent to $101.30 a barrel.

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