Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,750 level, with gains in mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 20.40 points or 0.23 percent to 8,752.80, after touching a high of 8,771.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 27.60 points or 0.31 percent to 8,938.50. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing more than 1 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block, Xero and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Zip is declining more than 1 percent. Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is adding almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the downturn seen late in the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, offsetting recent losses and turning positive for the week.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached new highs for the session late in the day before giving back ground going into the close. The Nasdaq surged 439.87 points or 1.7 percent to 26,418.30 and the S&P 500 jumped 85.95 points or 1.1 percent to 7,637.76. The narrower Dow climbed 316.14 points or 0.6 percent to 51,778.04.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pulled back on Thursday after supply-related concerns eased amid Saudi Arabia's efforts to get its vital oil pipeline back in operation. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.60 or 0.59 percent at $101.83 per barrel.