Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by miners and technology stocks. Traders also cautiously looked ahead to the RBA's interest rate decision scheduled for next week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.70 points or 0.49 percent to 7,145.50, after touching a high of 7,165.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 36.10 points or 0.50 percent to 7,326.80. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

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

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 2 percent and Appen is soaring almost 12 percent, while Zip and Xero are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.1 percent.

Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources is adding more than 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is rising almost 4 percent and Resolute Mining is up 2.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday but moved notably higher over the course of the session. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over nine months.

The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 165.70 points or 1.3 percent to 13,100.98, the S&P 500 jumped 41.10 points or 1.0 percent to 4,221.02 and the Dow climbed 153.30 points or 0.5 percent to 33,061.57.

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

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on hopes OPEC will announce a cut in production. Oil prices were also supported by a weak U.S. dollar and the passage of the debt ceiling bill. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July ended higher by $2.01 or 3 percent at $70.10 per barrel.