Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is slightly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,100 level to fresh all-time highs, with gains in iron ore miners, energy and technology stocks, partially offset by losses in gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 5.10 points or 0.06 percent to 8,147.20, after touching fresh all-time highs of 8,186.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 6.40 points or 0.08 percent to 8,370.70. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Beach energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Appen is gaining more than 2 percent and Zip is advancing almost 3 percent. Afterpay owner Block, WiseTech Global and Xero are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Newmont and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility late in the trading session on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve's announcement of its decision to lower interest rates. The major averages showed wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs immediately following the Fed announcement but finished the day in the red. The Dow fell 103.08 points or 0.3 percent to 41,503.10, the S&P 500 slipped 16.32 points or 0.3 percent to 5,618.26 and the Nasdaq dipped 54.76 points or 0.3 percent to 17,573.30.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Wednesday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories and the rate cut. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended down $0.28 or 0.39 percent at $70.91 a barrel.