Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, adding to the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well above the 8,200 level, with gains across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 43.90 points or 0.53 percent to 8,267.90, after touching a high of 8,273.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 44.20 points or 0.52 percent to 8,524.10. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is losing more than 4 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Origin Energy is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is adding more than 2 percent, Appen is surging almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent each, while Afterpay-owner Block is losing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is advancing almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent, Newmont is up almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is rising more than 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure in the latter part of the trading day on Thursday after showing a lack of direction for much of the session. The major averages slid more firmly into negative territory after spending most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 207.33 points or 0.5 percent to 43,750.86, the Nasdaq fell 123.07 points or 0.6 percent to 19,107.65 and the S&P 500 declined 36.21 points or 0.6 percent to 5,949.17.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday, supported by data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $0.27 or about 0.4 percent at $68.70 a barrel.