Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,950 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 31.90 points or 0.36 percent to 8,977.80, after hitting a low of 8,927.90 and a high of 8,981.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 34.40 points or 0.37 percent to 9,274.70. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto are adding almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent andSantos is losing almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.1 percent. Beach energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is surging almost 5 percent, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, Zip is advancing almost 2 percent and Appen is adding more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging down 0.4 percent. Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in DigiCo are sky rocketing almost 18 percent after it lifted its earnings guidance amid growing demand for its AI infrastructure.

Shares in Mesoblast are surging more than 13 percent after it reported that Ryoncil, its therapy to treat children for complications that could occur during bone marrow transplants, got formal recognition from the U.S. Medicare & Medicaid Services that allows for broader patient access.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 53.4. That's down from 55.8 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Thursday before once again ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages closed higher for the fifth straight session, reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 88.89 points or 0.4 percent to 22,844.05, the Dow rose 78.62 points or 0.2 percent to 46,519.72 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.15 points or 0.1 percent to 6,715.35.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday on anxiety about the long-term impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which enters the second day today. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.23 or 1.99 percent at $60.55 per barrel.