Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,600 level, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 117.50 points or 0.38 percent to 8,614.10, after touching a high of 8,628.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 120.70 points or 1.39 percent to 8,837.70. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 2 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.5 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is declining almost 3 percent, Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent, Santos is down almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent and Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, while Xero is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 2 percent, while Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent, Newmont is gaining more than 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is adding almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in May, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.2. That's down from 51.3 in April, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell to 47.7 in May from 50.7 in April, while composite PMI dropped to 47.8 from 50.4.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside on the day.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 399.65 points or 1.5 percent to 26,270.36, the Dow shot up 645.47 points or 1.3 percent to 50,009.35 and the S&P 500 jumped 79.36 points or 1.1 percent to 7,432.97.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.7 percent, the German DAX Index shot up by 1.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1 percent.

The sharp drop in crude oil prices also contributed to the rise on Wall Street, thanks to increasing diplomatic measures to secure an agreement to end their hostilities between the United States and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $5.89 or 5.66 percent at $98.26 per barrel.