Australian Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market rebounded from three-month lows to trade sharply higher on Thursday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 6,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with sharp gains across most sectors, led by mining and energy stocks amid the spike in commodity prices.

This sharp move came on the back of the Bank of England launching a 65 billion pound bond-buying program to stabilize its financial markets, sending global bond yields lower.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 123.70 points or 1.91 percent to 6,585.70, after touching a high of 6,587.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 129.90 points or 1.95 percent to 6,689.70. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent. BHP Group and OZ Minerals are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos is gaining almost 3 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 4 percent and Origin Energy is up more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Appen is up more than 1 percent, Xero is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing almost 7 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are surging more than 5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining 2.5 percent and Newcrest Mining is adding more than 4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial rebound during trading on Wednesday after moving sharply lower over the past several sessions. The major averages all showed strong moves back to the upside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 bouncing off their lowest closing levels since late 2020.

The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session going into the close but held on to significant gains. The Dow surged 548.75 points or 1.9 percent to 29,683.74, the Nasdaq skyrocketed 222.13 points or 2.1 percent to 11,051.64 and the S&P 500 spiked 71.75 points or 2.0 percent to 3,719.04.

The major European markets also showed modest moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index climbed 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday after data showed a dip in U.S. crude inventories last week, and the dollar's sharp drop also contributed to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $3.65 or 4.7 percent at $82.15 a barrel.