Australia Stocks gain; miners lead

Headline indices of the Australia stock market were higher on Monday, 06 August 2018, following the gains on Wall Street Friday, with shares of materials and resources sectors leading rally on strength in iron ore and base metal prices. Around late afternoon, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index grew 31.33 points, or 0.5%, to 6,266.10. The broader All Ordinaries Index was up 28.20 points, or 0.45%, to 6,354.60.

Shares of materials sector were the biggest contributor to the benchmark gains, underpinned by rise in iron ore and copper prices. Among miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Fortescue Metals were up in a range of 1-2%. Gold miners were also gaining after gold prices edged higher, with Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining were advancing more than 1%.

 

Galaxy Resources shares were up 4% after announcing on Monday that its deal to sell certain Argentinean assets to South Korea's POSCO for US$280 million was ahead of schedule.

Shares of energy companies mostly higher, despite drop in crude oil prices on Friday, amid renewed concerns about excess supply in the market, after data showed oil output in Russia to have increased sharply in July. WTI crude for September settled at $68.49 a barrel, down $0.47 or 0.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search were up in a range of 0.3% to 0.5%.

Shares of banks and financials inclined, with ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank were up in a range of 0.4% to 0.7%. In the real estate space, Vicinity Centres Re Ltd rose as much as 2% after announcing A$1 billion property fund with a unit of Singapore-listed Keppel Corp Ltd's asset management arm.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was up against greenback and other major currencies. The Australian dollar was quoted at US$0.7398, up from US$0.7360 on Friday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed higher on Friday as traders digested the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report showing weaker than expected job growth in July, partly due to a drop in government employment and the closing of Toys "R" Us stores. The report also showed a modest decrease in the unemployment rate. The Nasdaq inched up 9.33 points or 0.1% to 7,812.01, the Dow climbed 136.42 points or 0.5% at 25,462.58 and the S&P 500 rose 13.13 points or 0.5% to 2,840.35.

The major European markets also closed higher on Friday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1%, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.6% and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3%.

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