The Australian stock market is advancing on Monday, recouping some losses from the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rising above the 6,800 level, boosted by gains in major mining and banking stocks. The cues overnight from Wall Street were also positive on the back of positive jobs data.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 114.10 points or 1.70 percent to 6,824.90, after rising to a high of 6,835.60. The broader All Ordinaries Index is rising 115.00 points or 1.66 percent to 7,058.00. Australian stocks closed lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is advancing almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher after crude oil prices hit a one-year high on Friday. Oil Search is rising almost 3 percent and Woodside Petroleum is adding more than 2 percent, while Santos is losing more than 1 percent.
The big four banks are higher. National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are adding more than 1 percent, while Westpac is higher by nearly 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are also higher, with Newcrest Mining rising more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining up more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources gaining almost 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.771 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks went on a roller-coaster ride during the trading session on Friday before ending the day sharply higher. With the strong upward move on the day, the major averages partly offset the steep drop seen over the three previous sessions.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled to its lowest intraday level in nearly three months before rebounding to end the day up 196.68 points or 1.6 percent at 12,920.15. The Dow also jumped 572.16 points or 1.9 percent to 31,496.30 and the S&P 500 surged up 73.47 points or 2 percent to 3,841.94.
The major European also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, extending gains after OPEC decided to maintain its output reduction agreement through April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $2.26 or 3.5 percent at $66.09 a barrel, the highest settlement since June 2019. WTI futures gained more than 7 percent in the week.
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