Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is slightly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 7,500 level, with gains is gold miners and financial stocks nearly offset by losses in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.30 points or 0.10 percent to 7,501.40, after touching a high of 7,514.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 7,733.20. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Appen is declining almost 2 percent, while Xero and Zip are slipping almost 3 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each. ANZ Banking is flat. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Core Lithium are plunging almost 11 percent after lithium miner paused mining from its Northern Territory mine amid the continuing fall in price of battery metal.

Shares in BlueBet are skyrocketing almost 26 percent amid reports the online wagering company is in talks to merge with fellow bookmaker BetR.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading session on Thursday before eventually ending the day mostly lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 finished the session in negative territory, although the narrower Dow closed slightly higher.

The major averages moved to the downside going into the close, with the Nasdaq sliding 81.91 points or 0.6 percent to 14,510.30 and the S&P 500 falling 16.13 points or 0.3 percent at 4,688.68, while the Dow inched up 10.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 37,440.34.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index all climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil extended yesterday's rebound in early trading on Thursday but came under pressure over the course of the session.cAfter reaching a high of $74 a barrel, crude for February delivery plunged as low as $71.06 a barrel before recovering to end the day down $0.51 or 0.7 percent at $72.19 a barrel.