Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 8,200 level, with gains in gold miners, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 46.00 points or 0.57 percent to 8,172.40, after touching a high of 8,188.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 47.80 points or 0.57 percent to 8,420.60. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent and Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 6 percent, Zip is advancing almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent and Newmont is up almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.683 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed weak on Wednesday amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook following recent gains that lifted the two of the major averages - the Dow and the S&P 500 - to record highs. Investors digested the latest set of economic data and assessed the central bank's rate cut trajectory.

The Dow ended down 293.47 points or 0.7 percent at 41,914.75, snapping a four-session winning streak. The S&P 500 settled lower by 10.67 points or 0.19 percent at 5,722.26, while the Nasdaq closed up 7.68 points or 0.04 percent at 18,082.21.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The Stoxx 600 ended down 0.11 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.17 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 0.41 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Wednesday on uncertainty about the outlook for demand and easing concerns over supply disruptions in Libya. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.87 or 2.6 percent at $69.69 a barrel.