Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to near the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks amid firmer metals prices and higher crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 29.70 points or 0.41 percent to 7,285.10, after touching a high of 7,286.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 26.40 points or 0.35 percent to 7,486.40. Australian markets ended slightly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while OZ Minerals and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 4 percent and Xero is edging up 0.1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are adding almost 2 percent each. Appen is edging down 0.4 percent. Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent, Gold Road Resources is losing more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is declining more than 1 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia bounced back up into expansion in February, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 50.7. That's up from 48.6 in January, and it moves back above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite PMI improved to 50.6 in February from 48.5 in January.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.675 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks indexes all moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday after moving in opposite directions early in the session.

The Dow outperformed its counterparts throughout the session and closed up 341.73 points or 1.1 percent at 33,003.57, adding to the slight uptick seen in Wednesday's session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 83.50 points or 0.7 percent to 11,462.98, while the S&P 500 advanced 29.96 points or 0.8 percent to 3,981.35.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session as optimism about higher demand from China outweighed concerns about inflation and interest rate hikes. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April settled at $78.16 a barrel, gaining $0.47 or 0.6 percent.