Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, recouping the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 7,500 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by losses in energy and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 32.40 points or 0.43 percent to 7,500.60, after touching a high of 7,504.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 30.20 points or 0.39 percent to 7,732.90. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Appen is declining almost 3 percent and Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent, while Xero and Zip are edging up 0.4 percent each. WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is adding more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 1 percent. Newmont is losing almost 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside during trading on Wednesday after ending the previous session on opposite sides of the unchanged line. With the upward move, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed higher for the fourth straight session.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels in late-day trading but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 111.94 points or 0.8 percent to 14,969.65, the S&P 500 climbed 26.95 points or 0.6 percent to 4,783.45 and the Dow rose 170.57 points or 0.5 percent to 37,695.73.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day little changed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both ended the day roughly flat.

Crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February delivery ended down $0.87 at $71.37 a barrel.