Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Friday, snapping an eight-sessions losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,750 level, with gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 89.00 points or 1.03 percent to 8,754.80, after touching a high of 8,764.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 92.70 points or 1.04 percent to 8,980.30. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is advancing almost 4 percent, Fortescue is adding almost 2 percent, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is advancing almost 3 percent, Appen is surging more than 6 percent and Zip is edging up 0.4 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.720 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday after seeing considerable volatility early in the session. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the end of the day but still posted strong gains. The Dow surged 790.33 points or 1.6 percent to 49,652.14, the S&P 500 jumped 73.06 points or 1 percent to 7,209.01 and the Nasdaq advanced 219.08 points or 0.9 percent to 24,892.31.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.6 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices came under pressure on Thursday, reflecting profit taking amid ongoing concerns about the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $2.40 or 2.3 percent at $104.48 a barrel.