Australian Market Modestly Higher

The Australian stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Friday, adding to 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 8,200 level, with gains mining and technology stocks partially offset losses in financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.70 points or 0.16 percent to 8,216.40, after touching a high of 8,224.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 16.10 points or 0.19 percent to 8,478.90. Australian markets ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is soaring more than 9 percent and Fortescue Metals is surging almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is down 1.5 percent, while Origin Energy is declining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Xero is adding almost 1 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent. Zip is losing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent and Westpac is declining almost 2 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are down more than 1 percent each.

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

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are plummeting 45 percent on its first day of trading since late August.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages gave back ground after an early rally but managed to end the day firmly into positive territory.

The S&P 500 rose 23.11 points or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 5,745.37, the Dow advanced 260.36 points or 0.6 percent to 42,175.11 and the Nasdaq climbed 108.09 points or 0.6 percent to 18,190.29.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.3 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.

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