Australian Market Slightly Higher

Australian stock market is slightly higher on Friday, extending the strong gains of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street on upbeat weekly labor market data. Major miners and energy stocks are lower as commodity prices retreated, which was offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 4.70 points or 0.07 percent to 7,024.30, after touching a high of 7,056.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 6.70 points or 0.09 percent to 7,259.30. Australian markets ended notably higher on Thursday.

The major miners are lower. Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are down almost 2 percent each, while BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is declining more than 2 percent. Mineral Resources is slumping almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks were lower after crude oil prices slumped. Among oil stocks, Oil Search is losing more than 2 percent and Santos is down more than 3 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Beach energy are declining almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay is gaining almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is up almost 2 percent and Xero is adding more than 5 percent, while Appen is losing almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mixed after gold prices edged up. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Kogan.com are plunging more than 12 percent after the online retailer issued an earnings downgrade due to issues with excess inventory and problems with its shipping costs.

EML Payments rallied more than 16 percent, gaining for a second day, after plunging nearly 50 percent the two days ago on fears of regulatory curbs on its Irish unit.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in May, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Friday with a survey record manufacturing PMI score of 59.9. That’s up from 59.7 in April, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI eased to 58.2 from 58.8 in April and the composite fell to 58.1 from 58.9.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.776 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks snapped a three-day losing streak and closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by data showing a drop in jobless claims last week. Technology stocks posted strong gains, contributing significantly to market’s strong close. Bitcoin’s rebound after a terrible setback in the previous session aided sentiment. A few encouraging earnings announcements helped as well.

The major averages all closed notably higher. The Dow came off day’s high of 34,233.40, but still closed with a fairly decent gain of 188.11 points or 0.55 percent at 34,084.15. The S&P 500 ended up by 43.44 points or 1.06 percent at 4,159.12, while the Nasdaq settled at 13,535.74, gaining 236 points or 1.77 percent.

The major European markets also closed on a strong note, rebounding well after a sell-off in the previous session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 1 percent, Germany’s DAX surged up 1.7 percent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.29 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, extending losses to a third straight day as signs of progress in Iran nuclear talks raised expectations that global crude supply will see a surge in the near term. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $1.31 or 2.1 percent at $62.05 a barrel on the expiration day.

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