Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, reversing some of the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,600 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 47.80 points or 0.56 percent to 8,598.60, after touching a high of 8,605.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 52.20 points or 0.60 percent to 8,825.80. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are advancing almost 3 percent each.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is up almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 2 percent, Appen is advancing 3.5 percent and Zip is adding more than 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent and Newmont is up almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Reece are plunging more than 12 percent after the group slashed its earnings before interest and taxes outlook for the full-year 2025.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after ending the previous session little changed. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day just shy of their record closing highs.

The major averages all posted strong gains on the day. The Nasdaq jumped 194.36 points or 1.0 percent to 20,167.91, the Dow advanced 404.41 points or 0.9 percent to 43,386.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 48.86 points or 0.8 percent to 6,141.02.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices extended its recovery on Thursday amid the ongoing Israel-Iran ceasefire and reports of an increase in fuel demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up by $0.32 to settle at $65.24 per barrel.