Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous five sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 40.60 points or 0.53 percent to the day's high of 7,821.00. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.80 points or 0.52 percent to 7,901.80. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Santos, Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

In the tech space, Appen is gaining 1.5 percent, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, Xero is advancing almost 2 percent and Zip is up more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping more than 1 percent, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually ending the day mostly lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 extended their losing streaks to four days, falling to their lowest closing levels in nearly two months.

The major averages all finished the day red, although the Dow posted a relatively modest loss, edging down 45.66 points or 0.1 percent to 37,753.31. The S&P 500 slid 29.20 points or 0.6 percent to 5,022.21 and the Nasdaq tumbled 181.88 points or 1.2 percent to 15,683.37.

Meanwhile, the major European markets gave back ground after an early rally but still closed mostly higher. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index close just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, adding to modest losses in the two previous sessions after data showed a surge in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery plunged $2.67 or 3.1 percent to $82.69 a barrel.