Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 6,900 level, boosted by gains across most sectors, led by miners and financial stocks, partially offset by losses in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.00 points or 0.40 percent to 6,953.50, after touching a high of 6,955.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 24.90 points or 0.35 percent to 7,142.40. Australian markets ended notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is edging down 0.5 percent, Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip is adding almost 1 percent and Xero is edging up 0.2 percent. Appen is losing more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding 1.5 percent and Westpac is advancing almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding 1.5 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing almost 2 percent. Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.3 percent.

In other news, shares in Magellan Financial Group are plunging more than 11 percent after it reported a $4 billion drop in funds under management in September.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.637 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Thursday but staged a notable recovery attempt over the course of the trading day. The major averages peeked above the unchanged line late in the session but closed modestly lower.

After falling by nearly 190 points in early trading, the Dow ended the day down just 9.98 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 33,119.57. The Nasdaq edged down 16.18 points or 0.1 percent to 13,219.83, while the S&P 500 slipped 5.56 points or 0.1 percent to 4,258.19.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday amid uncertainty about the outlook for demand and due to disappointment over OPEC's decision to not increase the size of production cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.91 or 2.3 percent at $82.31 a barrel.