Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,600 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in gold miners, materials and energy stocks amid a rebound in commodity prices.

Meanwhile, traders also digest data from the U.S. Labor Department that showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of June, adding to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 21.40 points or 0.32 percent to 6,643.00, after touching a high of 6,643.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 25.50 points or 0.38 percent to 6,833.30. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while OZ Minerals is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding advancing almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are adding almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Xero is edging down 0.1 percent, Appen is declining almost 3 percent and Zip is slipping almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.3 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is gaining 1.5 percent, Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is up almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Lake Resources are plunging more than 16 percent after it emerged from a trading halt amid claims by hedge fund J Capital that its direct lithium extraction technology could fail to perform at a commercial scale.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after recovering from an early move to the downside. The major averages climbed off their early lows and spent the rest of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session in negative territory but well off their worst levels. The Dow slid 208.54 points or 0.7 percent to 30,772.79, the Nasdaq edged down 17.15 points or 0.2 percent to 11,247.58 and the S&P 500 fell 17.02 points or 0.5 percent to 3,801.78.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices shrugged off a surge in U.S. inflation and climbed higher on Wednesday, rebounding smartly after suffering a sharp loss in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.46 at $96.30 a barrel.