Australian Market Significantly Higher; Hits Record Highs

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is significantly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,800 level to all-time record highs, with gains across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 68.20 points or 0.88 percent to 7,831.90, after touching a all-time record high of 7,836.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 66.80 points or 0.83 percent to 8,093.50. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent, while Santos is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is advancing almost 3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Xero are adding almost 1 percent each. Zip is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining 1.5 percent and Westpac is adding almost 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are up more than 1 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Magmatic Resources are skyrocketing 49 percent after Fortescue Metals took a 19.9 percent stake in the New South Wales copper-gold explorer.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.663 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday extending the rebound seen during Wednesday's session. The major averages further offset the notable pullback seen to start the week, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 bouncing back to record intraday highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 241.83 points or 1.5 percent to 16,273.38, ending the day just shy of last Friday's record closing high, while the S&P 500 managed to set a new record closing high, jumping 52.60 points or 1.0 percent to 5,157.36. The narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, rising 130.30 points or 0.3 percent to 38,791.35.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures drifted lower on Thursday amid some concerns about the outlook for demand, although the downside was limited by a weaker greenback. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April fell $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $78.93 a barrel.