Australian Market Modestly Higher

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving near the 7,200 level, following the mostly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in miners and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 25.90 points or 0.36 percent to 7,187.60, after touching a high of 7,197.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 26.90 points or 0.37 percent to 7,381.10. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Appen is declining almost 5 percent and Zip is down almost 2 percent, while Xero is adding more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.4 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.678 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stock saw substantial volatility following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages showed wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.

The Nasdaq climbed 53.16 points or 0.4 percent to13,626.48 and the S&P 500 inched up 3.58 points or 0.1 percent to 4,372.59, once again reaching their best closing levels in over a year. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow slid 232.79 points or 0.7 percent to 33,979.33, pulling back off Tuesday’s four-month closing high.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices pared early gains and drifted lower Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $1.15 or 1.7 percent at $68.27 a barrel.

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