Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is slightly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying a tad below the 6,900 level, with gains in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by losses in iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 6.90 points or 0.10 percent to 6,897.10, after touching a high of 6,912.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 7.30 points or 0.10 percent to 7,089.50. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are losing more than 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent, while Xero is gaining more than 1 percent. Afterpay owner Block, Zip and Appen are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is up more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.635 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after turning in a lackluster performance early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, bouncing off their lowest closing levels in four months.

The major averages all finished the day firmly positive, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way higher. The Nasdaq jumped 176.54 points or 1.4 percent to 13,236.01, the S&P 500 advanced 34.30 points or 0.8 percent to 4,263.75 and the Dow rose 127.17 points or 0.4 percent to 33,129.55.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly unchanged and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for demand amid worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $5.01 or 5.6 percent at $84.22 a barrel.