Australian Market Slightly Higher

Recouping some of the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,500 level, with gains in technology stocks partially offset by losses in gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.20 points or 0.12 percent to 7,513.30, after touching a high of 7,521.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.00 points or 0.16 percent to 7,739.80. Australian markets ended notably lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is adding almost 1 percent and Zip is advancing more than 3 percent, while Appen is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. ANZ Banking is flat.

Gold miners are weak. Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is down almost 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the sharp pullback seen late in Wednesday’s session. The major averages all moved notably higher, largely offsetting yesterday’s steep losses.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow advanced 322.35 points or 0.9 percent to 37,404.35, the Nasdaq surged 185.92 points or 1.3 percent to 14,963.84 and the S&P 500 jumped 48.40 points or 1.0 percent to 4,746.75.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil futures snapped a three-day winning streak on Thursday after Angola’s decision to exit OPEC raised concerns about the oil cartel’s ability to support prices by curbing output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.33 at $73.8 a barrel.

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