Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to stay just below the 8,600 level at fresh all-time highs, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 40.80 points or 0.48 percent to 8,580.80, after touching an all-time high of 8,615.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 45.00 points or 0.51 percent to 8,849.20. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining 2.5 percent and Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, Xero is advancing almost 2 percent, Zip is rising more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is up almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont is adding 1.5 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat,

In other news, shares in AMP are plummeting more than 14 percent after the company's half-year profit nearly halved, largely reflecting the sale of the firm's advice arm.

Shares in Cochlear are also plummeting almost 13 percent after the company downgraded its full-year profit forecast, as cost-of-living pressures dented the revenue it earns from servicing implants.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.632 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the significant recovery from the sell-off seen early in Wednesday's session. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages saw continued strength going into the close, ending the day near their high of the session. The Nasdaq surged 295.69 points or 1.5 percent to 19,945.64, the S&P 500 jumped 63.10 points or 1.0 percent to 6,115.07 and the Dow advanced 342.87 points or 0.8 percent at 44,711.43.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index surged by 2.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as geopolitical concerns eased a bit amid hopes of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to presidents of Russia and Ukraine over phone. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery closed down $0.08 at $71.39 a barrel.