Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, extending the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,650 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 24.60 points or 0.29 percent to 8,665.30, after touching a high of 8,673.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 24.40 points or 0.28 percent to 8,909.10. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is declining almost 3 percent, Fortescue is down more than 2 percent, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping more than 6 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each. Origin Energy is down more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent, Xero is jumping more than 8 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent, while Appen and Zip are advancing more than 4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is advancing almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are declining more than 2 percent each. Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.722 on Friday.

On Wall Street, the Dow showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday, closing above 50,000 for the first time in three months, after ending the previous session modestly lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also moved higher, adding to Wednesday's gains and once again reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages all finished the day firmly positive but off their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 370.26 points or 0.8 percent to 50,063.46, the Nasdaq jumped 232.88 points or 0.9 percent to 26,635.22 and the S&P 500 climbed 56.99 points or 0.9 percent to 7,501.24.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut amid a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $0.29 or 0.29 percent at $101.31 per barrel.