Australian Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping the losses the previous session, the Australian stock market is sharply higher on Friday, following the broadly positive 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 88.60 points or 1.15 percent to 7,770.60, after touching a high of 7,773.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 93.50 points or 1.19 percent to 7,980.00. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent, Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are advancing almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 5 percent, Xero is adding almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing more than 3 percent, while Zip and Appen are gaining almost 5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is adding more than 3 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Life360 are skyrocketing more than 18 percent after the family tracking app upgraded its full-year revenue guidance amid a jump in its user-base last quarter and global expansion plans.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, with the major averages more than offsetting the downturn seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages surged early in the session and saw further upside as the day progressed.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, hovering near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq soared 464.22 points or 2.9 percent to 16,660.02, the Nasdaq spiked 119.81 points or 2.3 percent to 5,319.31 and the Dow jumped 683.04 points or 1.8 percent to 39,446.49.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday, amid possible supply disruptions due to Middle East tensions, and on hopes of increased demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.96 or 1.28 percent at $76.19 a barrel.