Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday after opening in the red, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.80 points or 0.15 percent to 7,164.70, after touching a high of 7,169.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.60 points or 0.20 percent to 7,360.30. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.5 percent, Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is losing 1.5 percent. Zip is gaining almost 1 percent. Xero is flat. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line as traders digested a highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation.

The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow dipped 70.46 points or 0.2 percent to 34,575.53, the S&P 500 inched up 5.54 points or 0.1 percent to 4,467.44 and the Nasdaq rose 39.97 points or 0.3 percent to 13,813.59.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday on worries about demand after data showed an unexpected jump in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October fell $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $88.52 a barrel.