Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, adding to the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by materials, energy and technology stocks amid spiking commodity prices. Financial stocks were weak.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.70 points or 0.45 percent to 8,129.00, after touching a high of 8,148.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.00 points or 0.47 percent to 8,359.40. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are gaining more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, Beach energy is adding 1.5 percent and Santos is advancing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Xero is adding more than 2 percent, Appen is surging more than 6 percent and Zip is advancing more than 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, ANZ Banking Is losing almost 1 percent.

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

In other news, share on Namoi Cotton are surging almost 6 percent after Australia's competition watchdog said it will not oppose Louis Dreyfus' proposed acquisition of Namoi Cotton, despite concerns the deal could lessen competition in the supply of cotton ginning services in the north of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Shares in DroneShield are plunging more than 15 percent after the Defence tech dealer wrapped its $120 million capital raise.

Shares in Pacific Smiles are soaring more than 7 percent after it backed a $2.05 per share bid for its business.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in July, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.5. That's up from 47.2 in June, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Wednesday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside after ending Tuesday's trading mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

The Nasdaq soared 451.98 points or 2.6 percent to 17,599.40, more than offsetting the 1.3 percent slump seen during yesterday's session. The S&P 500 also jumped 85.86 points or 1.6 percent to 5,522.30, while the Dow rose 99.46 points or 0.2 percent to 40,842.79.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions due to rising tensions in the Middle East, and on data showing a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $3.18 or 4.3 percent at $77.91 a barrel.