Australian Market Sharply Higher: Up 5%

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, reversing the sharp losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is surging 5 percent to well above the 7,700 level, with gains across all sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is surging 375.30 points or 5.09 percent to 7,750.30, after touching a high of 7,581.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 387.20 points or 5.12 percent to 7,948.90. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is soaring more than 14 percent, while BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are soaring more than 7 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is adding more than 7 percent, Santos is surging almost 6 percent, Origin Energy is gaining almost 4 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing almost 8 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is soaring almost 16 percent, WiseTech Global is surging more than 8 percent, Appen is spiking more than 13 percent, Zip is skyrocketing more than 17 percent and Xero is advancing almost 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is advancing almost 4 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 4 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are surging almost 6 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 4 percent, Newmont is adding more than 4 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 5 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is surging almost 7 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.613 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed an astonishingly strong move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday following the nosedive seen over the past several sessions. The major averages all moved sharply higher, posting their biggest one-day gains in years.

The major averages saw continued strength late in the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 1,857.06 or 12.2 percent to 17,124.97, the S&P 500 spiked by 474.13 points or 9.5 percent to 5,456.90 and the Dow surged 2,962.86 points or 7.9 percent to 40,608.45.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved sharply lower on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dove by 3.3 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 3.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 2.9 percent.

Crude oil prices extended their recent nosedive early in the session on Wednesday but showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the day. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery soared $2.77 or 4.7 percent to $62.35 a barrel.