Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by miners and financial stocks. Energy stocks were weak amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 23.70 points or 0.33 percent to 7,123.40, after touching a high of 7,124.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 22.90 points or 0.31 percent to 7,311.20. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, BHP Group is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent and Appen is slipping almost 4 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are advancing almost 2 percent. Xero is adding more than 1 percent.

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

Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.3 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a significant rebound following the sharp pullback seen on Wednesday. With the upward move, the S&P 500 reached its best closing level in well over nine months.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 133.63 points or 1.0 percent to 13,238.52, the S&P 500 climbed 26.41 points or 0.6 percent to 4,293.93 and the Dow rose 168.59 points or 0.5 percent to 33,833.61.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices regained ground after a midday sell-off but still ended Thursday's trading session firmly in negative territory as concerns about the outlook for energy demand continued to weigh on the markets. West Texas Intermediate for July shed $1.24 or 1.7 percent at $71.29 a barrel.