Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to just below the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks as traders reacted to the minutes from the US Fed's recent policy meeting.

Energy stocks were weak after crude oil prices tumbled more than 5 percent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.60 points or 0.18 percent to 7,071.80, after touching a high of 7,099.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 16.80 points or 0.23 percent to 7,265.90. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are declining almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.1 percent. OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent and BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is declining more than 3 percent, Woodside Energy is losing more than 2 percent and Santos is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Zip is surging more than 6 percent and Appen is gaining 1.5 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding more than 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Warrego Energy are surging more than 9 percent after Gina Rinehart's Hancock Energy sweetened its takeover offer for the company.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.683 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw wild fluctuations over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually finishing the day mostly higher. The major averages spent much of the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory after starting off the New Year on a negative note. The Dow rose 133.40 points or 0.4 percent to 33,269.77, the Nasdaq climbed 71.78 points or 0.7 percent to 10,458.76 and the S&P 500 advanced 28.83 points or 0.8 percent at 3,852.97.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending recent losses as worries about energy demand amid rising fears of a global recession continued to weigh on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $4.09 or 5.3 percent at $72.84 a barrel.