Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly higher on Thursday after opening in the red, adding to the slight gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to stay above the 8,200 level, with gains in some energy and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.10 points or 0.17 percent to 8,230.10, after hitting a low of 8,183.80 and a high of 8,228.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 5.00 points or 0.06 percent to 8,481.30. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining almost 4 percent and BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Beach energy and Santos are flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent, while Xero and Zip are slipping almost 1 percent each. Appen is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is down 1.5 percent. Newmont is tumbling more than 8 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in October, and at a slightly faster pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 46.6. That's down from 46.7 in September, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI rose to 50.6 in October from 50.5 in September.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Wednesday and saw further downside over the course of the trading day. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the Dow and the S&P 500 extending their losing streaks to three days.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels late in the session but remained firmly negative. The Dow slumped 409.94 points or 1.0 percent to 42,514.95, the Nasdaq tumbled 296.47 points or 1.6 percent to 18,276.65 and the S&P 500 slid 53.78 points or 0.9 percent to 5,797.42.

The major European markets also ended the day lower. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December fell $0.97 or 1.35 percent at $70.77 a barrel.