Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400 level, despite the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by losses in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 49.00 points or 0.66 percent to 7,451.00, after touching a high of 7,453.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.80 points or 0.64 percent to 7,666.60. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is flat. Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent after reporting that its half-year profit slumped amid weaker commodity prices.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, Xero is up 1.5 percent, Appen is advancing more than 3 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is losing more than 3 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat. In other news, shares in Regis Resources are plunging more than 13 percent after the gold miner provided a production update. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.678 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw typically volatility following the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages showed wild swings before ending the day narrowly mixed.

While the Dow rose 82.05 points or 0.2 percent to 35,520.12, extending its winning streak to 13 sessions, the S&P 500 edged down 0.71 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,566.75 and the Nasdaq slipped 17.27 points or 0.1 percent at 14,127.28.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell $0.85 or 1.1 percent at $78.78 a barrel.