Australian Market Doubles Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is doubling its early gains in mid-market moves on Thursday, extending the sharp gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 9,050 level, boosted by strong corporate earnings. Strong gains in mining and financial stocks were partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 66.40 points or 0.74 percent to 9,081.20, after touching a high of 9,105.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.30 points or 0.42 percent to 9,321.10. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is advancing almost 4 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining more than 3 percent, while Fortescue and Mineral Resources are adding almost 3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 3 percent, while Origin Energy is surging more than 5 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is tumbling almost 6 percent, Xero is slipping almost 7 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 3 percent and Appen is plunging almost 13 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are surging almost 5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is jumping more than 8 percent and Commonwealth Bank is soaring almost 10 percent on better-than-expected results.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is surging more than 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 4 percent, Genesis Minerals is up 1.5 percent and Newmont is advancing more than 3 percent.

In other news, shares in AMP are tumbling almost 26 percent as after the 11.3 percent drop in full-year net profit amid the "settlement of legacy legal matters and business simplification".

Shares in Temple & Webster are also plunging more than 26 percent as the online homewares and furniture retailer suffered a 36 percent slump in net profit after tax in the six months ended December 31.

Shares in Pro Medicus are diving more than 16 percent after the health imaging technology company reported first-half revenues that missed estimates amid higher operational costs. CEO Sam Hupert also spoke in an accompanying interview about the threat of AI on the company's business.

In economic news, Australia's consumer inflation expectations rose to 5.0 percent in February from 4.6 percent in the previous month, marking the highest level since July 2023. The Reserve Bank of Australia signaled inflation will remain above its 2 to 3 percent target band for an extended period. Projections suggest inflation in Australia may not return within the band until mid-2027.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Thursday.