Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 7,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 45.90 points or 0.60 percent to 7,761.40, after touching a high of 7,777.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 51.30 points or 0.64 percent to 8,014.40. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Santos is flat.

In the tech space, Xero and WiseTech Global are advancing almost 3 percent each, while Appen is adding more than 2 percent, Zip is surging almost 7 percent and Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is surging almost 5 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 2 percent and Newmont is adding almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw some volatility after an early rally on tamer than expected consumer price inflation data, but still managed to end Wednesday's trading mostly higher following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The Nasdaq surged 264.89 points or 1.5 percent to a new record closing high of 17,608.44 and the S&P 500 also reached a new record closing high, jumping 45.71 points or 0.9 percent to 5,421.03. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow ended the day down 35.21 points or 0.1 percent at 38,712.21.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved notably higher on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday on hopes of increased demand and tighter supply conditions later in the year, as well as a weak dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July rose $0.60 at $78.50 a barrel.