Australian Market Slashes Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slashing its early gains in mid-market moves on Friday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,600 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.10 points or 0.11 percent to 8,559.90, after touching a high of 8,605.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 15.50 points or 0.18 percent to 8,789.10. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 4 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos is edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block, Xero and Zip are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is advancing almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is advancing more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent, while Newmont and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Reece are plunging more than 14 percent after the group slashed its earnings before interest and taxes outlook for the full-year 2025.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Friday.