The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Thursday after being in the green at open, recouping some of the losses in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,400 level, despite the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders picked up socks at a bargain after the recent losses.
Strength in mining and technology stocks are partially offset by weakness in financial and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.60 points or 0.20 percent to 7,384.50, after touching a high of 7,398.20 and a low of 7,343.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.50 points or 0.19 percent to 7,718.50. Australian markets ended notably lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.5 percent each, while BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum are slipping more than 1 percent each. Beach Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are relatively flat, while Westpac is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay and Zip is losing more than 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is adding almost 2 percent. Xero is flat.
Gold miners are higher. Gold Road Resources, Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent. Evolution Mining is surging more than 8 percent after announcing an agreement to acquire the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine in Queensland from Glencore for $1 billion.
Share in Aristocrat Leisure are slipping almost 5 percent after the poker machine giant reported a 40 percent drop in net profit after tax from last year when it was bolstered by a $1 billion tax benefit. However, revenue jumped 14.4 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.726 on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw modest weakness during trading on Wednesday, giving back ground after ending the previous session mostly higher. Selling pressure was somewhat subdued, however, limiting the downside for the major averages.
The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but closed in negative territory. The Dow slid 211.17 points or 0.6 percent to 35,931.05, the Nasdaq fell 52.28 points or 0.3 percent to 15,921.57 and the S&P 500 dipped 12.23 points or 0.3 percent to 4,688.67.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday as data showing a larger than expected drop in gasoline stocks last week led to speculation the Biden administration might consider releasing more oil from emergency reserves. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $2.40 or about 3 percent at $78.36 a barrel, the lowest settlement in more than a month.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Slightly Higher
2021-11-18 01:27:33
