Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving up to nearly the 6,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted by strong gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 33.60 points or 0.51 percent to 6,681.10, after touching a high of 6,683.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 31.00 points or 0.45 percent to 6,873.30. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 1 percent. Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent. Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 4 percent, Appen is adding more than 2 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent, while Zip is slipping more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 4 percent and Westpac is surging more than 4 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding almost 3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Qantas Airways are soaring more than 11 after said it expects to return to profitability in the first half amid rebounding demand and improving business conditions.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks failed to hold early gains and ended lower on Wednesday with traders reacting to the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, and looking ahead to the crucial consumer price inflation data.

Despite spending much of the day's trading session in positive territory, the major averages all ended on a negative note. The Dow ended the day with a loss of 28.34 points or 0.1 percent at 29,210.85, the S&P 500 ended lower by 11.81 points or 0.33 percent at 3,577.03 and the Nasdaq settled at 10,417.10, posting a loss of 9.09 points or 0.09 percent.

The major European markets closed weak, extending recent losses, as global growth concerns, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions continued to weigh. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.86 percent, Germany's DAX declined 0.39 percent and France's CAC 40 shed 0.25 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, falling for a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand due to slowing global growth after OPEC cut its demand forecast for this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $2.02 or 2.26 percent at $87.33 a barrel.