Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,550 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 16.50 points or 0.19 percent to 8,550.80, after touching a high of 8,558.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.70 points or 0.11 percent to 8,755.00. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Fortescue is edging down 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are adding more than 2 percent each, while Santos is gaining almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is up almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is sliding almost 3 percent, while Appen is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is sliding more than 4 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.4 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.694 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside in early trading on Wednesday after ending Tuesday's choppy session mostly lower. The major averages gave back ground over the course of the trading day but managed to remain in positive territory.

The Nasdaq advanced 167.93 points or 0.8 percent to 21,929.83, the Dow climbed 305.43 points or 0.7 percent to 46,429.49 and the S&P 500 rose 35.53 points or 0.5 percent to 6,591.90.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both leapt by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped Wednesday on reports of negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, easing transport concerns via the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $2.22 or 2.40 percent at $90.13 per barrel.