Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to be just below the 8,850 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 43.30 points or 0.49 percent to 8,848.30, after touching a high of 8,851.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 44.70 points or 0.49 percent to 9,116.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing 1.5 percent, Appen is adding 2.5 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent, while Afterpay-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent and Newmont is adding more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in BSP Financial, also known as Bank South Pacific, are jumping more than 7 percent after it announced that the Papua New Guinea prime minister had assured the bank that it would continue to service and maintain government accounts.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Thursday, with the major averages all moving notably higher following the mixed performance seen during Wednesday's session. With the upward move, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.

The major averages finished the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow surged 617.08 points or 1.4 percent to 46,108.00, the S&P 500 jumped 55.43 points or 0.9 percent to 6,587.47 and the Nasdaq advanced 157.01 points or 0.7 percent to 22,043.07.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both advanced by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, triggered by the International Energy Agency's monthly report that boosted the supply estimate for 2025 and 2026, indicating a glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery sank $1.22 or 1.92 percent at $62.45 per barrel.