Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, snapping the three-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,200 level, with gains in technology, energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.90 points or 0.45 percent to 8,230.30, after touching a high of 8,239.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 32.60 points or 0.39 percent to 8,483.50. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are adding almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Appen is adding more than 1 percent and Xero is surging 6.5 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is slipping 3.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - unchanged from the previous month and in line with expectations. The Australian economy added 15,900 jobs, which missed forecasts for an increase of 25,200 jobs following the addition of 64,100 in September.

Full-time employment increased by 9,700 to 10,037,700 people, while part-time employment increased by 6,200 to 4,499,800 people. The participation rate was 67.1 percent, shy of expectations for 67.2 percent - which would have been unchanged. Monthly hours worked increased to 1.972 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the pullback seen in the previous session.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 50.66 points or 0.3 percent to 19,230.74, the S&P 500 crept up 1.39 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,985.38 and the Dow inched up 47.21 points or 0.1 percent to 43,958.19.

The major European markets also finished the day narrowly mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index dipped 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday thanks to short covering after recent sharp losses, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $0.31 or 0.46 percent at $68.43 a barrel.