Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous five sessions, the Australian stock market is significantly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,400 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks as well as mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 65.80 points or 0.89 percent to 7,443.70, after touching a high of 7,443.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 66.00 points or 0.87 percent to 7,665.40. Australian markets ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are advancing almost 2 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent and Santos is adding more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 4.5 percent, WiseTech Global is up 1.5 percent, Appen is soaring more than 11 percent and Zip is advancing almost 5 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.1 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in December, albeit it a slightly slower pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.8. That's up marginally from 47.7 in November, although it remained beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services PMI also moved higher, to 47.6 from 46.0 in November. The composite index rose to 47.4 in December from 46.2 in November.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further upside during trading on Thursday following the substantial rally seen late in the previous session. Buying interest was somewhat subdued on the day, although the Dow still managed to reach a new record closing high.

The Dow climbed 158.11 points or 0.4 percent to 37,248.35, closing higher for the sixth consecutive session. The Nasdaq edged up 27.59 points or 0.2 percent to 14,761.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.46 points or 0.3 percent to 4,719.55, reaching their best closing levels in almost two years.

The major European markets moved mostly higher on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, although the German DAX Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil futures surged on Thursday for the second straight day, lifted by a weak dollar and an upward revision in global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas International Crude oil futures for January spiked $2.11 or 3 percent at $71.58 a barrel.