Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 9,050 level, with gains in gold miners financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.90 points or 0.09 percent to 9,028.00, after touching a high of 9,070.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.10 points or 0.13 percent to 9,210.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Fortescue is gaining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent, while Zip and Appen are advancing almost 3 percent each. Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources, Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 2 percent, while Newmont and Resolute Mining are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.720 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after advancing early in the session. The major averages all moved sharply higher on the day, extending the rebound seen in the previous session.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 624.16 points or 1.2 percent to 53,686.11, the Nasdaq surged 366.23 points or 1.4 percent to 26,584.06 and the S&P 500 shot up 81.11 points or 1.1 percent to 7,747.71.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Thursday on hopes that the new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran will be limited. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.24 or 0.26 percent at $91.26 per barrel.