Australian Market Slightly Higher

The Australian stock market is slightly higher after opening lower on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving just below the 7,400 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, aided by gains from materials, mining and energy stocks on higher commodity prices. Financial and technology stocks are lower as investors chose to take some profits.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 6.00 points or 0.08 percent to 7,383.90, after touching a high of 7,390.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 3.40 points or 0.04 percent to 7,668.40. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent. Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.4 percent and OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos and Origin Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum is adding 2.5 percent and Beach Energy is up almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent.

NAB has launched another buy-back worth $2.5 billion, which will commence after the bank’s half-year results on May 5, subject to market conditions.

In the tech space, Appen is losing almost 1 percent , WiseTech Global is slipping almost 2 percent, Block is sliding more than 3 percent, Zip is down more than 4 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in JB Hi-Fi are gaining 3.5 percent after the white goods retailer told investors its sales for the third quarter to date had grown into the double digits, continuing its strong start to the new year.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global showed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 57.3. That’s up from 57.0 in February 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 climbed to 57.9 from 57.4 and the composite PMI improved to 57.1 from 56.6.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.749 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move back to the downside during trading on Wednesday following the strong upward move seen in the previous session. With the pullback on the day, the major averages largely offset yesterday’s gains.

The major averages ended the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow plunged 448.96 points or 1.3 percent to 34,358.50, the Nasdaq tumbled 186.21 points or 1.3 percent to 13,922.60 and the S&P 500 slumped 55.37 points or 1.2 percent to 4,456.24.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures settled at over two-week highs on Wednesday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories and worries about supply disruptions due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $5.66 or 5.2 percent at $114.93 a barrel.

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