Australian Market Modestly Higher

The Australian market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,600 level, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by losses in energy and gold mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 21.90 points or 0.29 percent to 7,637.70, after touching a high of 7,656.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.60 points or 0.28 percent to 7,872.50. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Appen and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent, Zip is adding more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is sliding almost 2 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Cochlear are up almost 5 percent after the ear implant maker lifted its profit guidance for financial 2024.

Shares in AGL Energy soared 11 percent after it upgraded operating profit guidance for the full year.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – coming in at 13,085. That was in line with expectations following the downwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in November (originally 1.6 percent).

Private house approvals fell 0.5 percent on month to 8,416 – again matching forecasts following the 4.3 percent contraction in the previous month. The value of new residential building fell 3.8 percent to A$6.03 billion, while the value of non-residential building fell 10.6 percent to A$4.32 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Wednesday after ending Tuesday’s choppy trading session modestly higher. The Dow and the S&P 500 set new record closing highs, with the latter reaching an intraday peak just shy of 5,000.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The S&P 500 climbed 40.83 points or 0.8 percent to4,995.06 and the Dow rose 156.00 points or 0.4 percent to 38,677.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 147.65 points or 1.0 percent to 15,756.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after official data showed a notable drop in gasoline stockpiles last week in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.55 at $73.86 a barrel, gaining for a third straight session.

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