Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,550 level, with gains iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 22.80 points or 0.27 percent to 8,564.60, after touching a high of 8,567.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 23.60 points or 0.27 percent to 8,793.80. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is surging almost 6 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is down more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Xero and Zip are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is adding almost 3 percent. Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in well over three months. While the Dow dipped 91.90 points or 0.2 percent to 42,427.74, the S&P 500 inched up 0.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,970.81 and the Nasdaq rose 61.53 points or 0.3 percent to 19,460.49.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, reflecting easing supply concerns as rains slowed the growth of blazes that had disrupted Canadian crude production. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell $0.56 or 0 .9 percent to $62.85 a barrel.