Australian stock market is higher on Friday, recouping some of the losses of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 hovering around the 7,100 level at near 14-month highs, following broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street on better-than-expected weekly labor market data. Increased tensions with China and pandemic concerns in Sydney are weighing on the market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.90 points or 0.41 percent to 7,090.60, after touching a high of 7,101.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 27.70 points or 0.38 percent to 7,333.70. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.
The major miners are higher. Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 1 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.4 percent each.
Among oil stocks, Woodside Petroleum is edging up 0.4 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 4 percent, while Oil Search and Santos are edging down 0.4 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent and Xero is declining more than 1 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 7 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac is flat and ANZ Banking edging down 0.2 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.5 percent. Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are higher after gold priced climbed. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is up almost 4 percent. Newcrest Mining is rising more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is up almost 1 percent.
In other news, shares in News Corp are gaining almost 3 percent after the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media company reporting a 3 percent rise in quarterly revenue to $3.01 billion and said it is on track to report its most profitable financial year since 2013.
Macquarie Group reported that full-year profits grew 10 percent to $3.02 billion and total assets under management had fallen by 6 percent to $563.5 billion from last year. The company also said it will pay shareholders a 40 percent franked final dividend of $3.35 per share. The stock is up almost 1 percent.
Shares in Nuix are plunging more than 4 percent after the data forensic firm downgrade its revenue forecast despite signing up new customers at a faster clip.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.778 on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. With the upward move, the Dow reached another new record closing high.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow jumped 318.19 points or 0.9 percent to 34,548.53, the Nasdaq rose 50.42 points or 0.4 percent to 13,632.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 34.03 points or 0.8 percent to 4,201.62.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures finished lower on Thursday, extending losses from previous session amid worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June were down $0.92 or 1.4 percent at $64.71 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Higher
2021-05-07 01:49:47
