Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday after opening in the red, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 8,400 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 17.90 points or 0.21 percent to 8,366.60, after touching a high of 8,369.40 and a low of 8,339.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 17.40 points or 0.20 percent to 8,588.80. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining 1.5 percent and Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Xero is edging up 0.3 percent, Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is adding more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are losing almost 1 percent each. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.3 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Uranium miners rallied following a report US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order as soon as Friday to eases the regulatory process on approvals for new nuclear reactors, and strengthen supply chains. Paladin Energy leapt almost 10 percent, Boss Energy was up almost 11 percent and Deep Yellow jumped more than 8 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.642 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on the Thursday but gave back ground in the latter part of the session to close roughly flat. The major averages pulled back well off their highs in the final hour of trading before closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq rose 53.09 points or 0.3 percent to 18,925.73, the Dow edged down 1.35 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 41,859.09 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.60 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,842.01.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both declined by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices saw further downside on Thursday after reports suggested that OPEC members are discussing a third consecutive oil production surge in July. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery slid $0.37 or 0.6 percent to $61.20 a barrel.