Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 25.20 points or 0.35 percent to 7,272.10, after touching a high of 7,286.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 28.40 points or 0.38 percent to 7,483.80. Australian markets ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is advancing almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are higher. Santos, Beach energy, Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are all edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 5 percent, Xero is adding almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining more than 2 percent, while Appen is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.5 percent. Westpac is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.3 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the gains posted over the past few sessions. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in over a year.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged 219.61 points or 1.6 percent to 14,138.57, the S&P 500 jumped 37.88 points or 0.9 percent to 4,510.04 and the narrower Dow inched up 47.71 points or 0.1 percent to 34,395.13.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as tamer-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation and producer price inflation data raised expectations interest rates in the U.S. are very near their peak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.14 or about 1.5 percent at $76.89 a barrel.