Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,850 level, with gains in mining stocks tracking higher bullion and iron ore prices. Most other sectors displayed a mixed performance.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 27.60 points or 0.31 percent to 8,848.20, after touching a high of 8,881.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 25.00 points or 0.27 percent to 9,176.80. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining 1.5 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.5 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is edging down 0.2 percent, Beach energy is declining almost 4 percent and Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent and Appen is advancing almost 3 percent. Xero is losing more than 2 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Zip are declining more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 2 percent, while Genesis Minerals is down almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during the trading day on Wednesday following the modest pullback seen during Tuesday's session. The major averages regained some ground after an early tumble but still all ended the day in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, slumping 238.12 points or 1.0 percent to 23,471.75. The S&P 500 also fell 37.14 points or 0.5 percent to 6,926.60, while the Dow edged down 42.36 points or 0.1 percent to 49,149.63.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices posted sharp gains Wednesday as the probability of U.S. intervention to end the crisis in Iran raises supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.76 or 1.24 percent at $61.91 per barrel.