Australian Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Friday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 at five-month highs to move above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with strong gains across all sectors, led by technology stocks, as softer-than-expected US inflation data raised hopes for a slower pace of interest rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 188.00 points or 2.70 percent to 7,152.00, after touching a high of 7,170.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 197.80 points or 2.77 percent to 7,343.50. Australian markets ended notably lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 4 percent, while OZ Minerals is adding more than 2 percent, Mineral Resources is up more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is surging more than 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.5 percent, while Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 5 percent, Zip is skyrocketing more than 14 percent, Xero is surging almost 8 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 10 percent and Afterpay owner Block is soaring almost 12 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding more than 1 percent each. Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining is soaring almost 6 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding 3.5 percent and Gold Road Resources is surging almost 5 percent. Resolute Mining is flat

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in their best performance in two years during trading on Thursday, reflecting a positive reaction to a highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation. With the strong upward move, the Dow reached its best closing level in almost three months, while the S&P 500 hit a two-month closing high.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow spiked 1,201.43 points or 3.7 percent to 33,715.37, the Nasdaq skyrocketed 760.97 points or 7.4 percent to 11,114.15 and the S&P 500 soared 207.80 points or 5.5 percent to 3,956.37.

The major European markets too showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 3.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE Index jumped by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, rebounding after three straight days of losses as the dollar fell on the better than expected U.S. inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.64 or 0.8 percent at $86.47 a barrel.