Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying just above the 8,500 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 11.30 points or 0.13 percent to 8,519.90, after touching a high of 8,515.10 and a low of 8,534.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.50 points or 0.15 percent to 8,744.40. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.2 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Zip is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is surging more than 5 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent and Resolute Mining is sliding almost 8 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday to end the day roughly flat after moving to the upside early in the session.

While the Nasdaq inched up 25.18 points or 0.1 percent to 19,546.27, the S&P 500 edged down 1.85 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,980.87 and the Dow slipped 44.14 points or 0.1 percent to 42,171.66.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index decreased by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday as the Israel-Iran conflict, which began with Israeli airstrikes on June 12, entered the sixth straight day with casualties increasing on both sides. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose by $0.30 to settle at $75.15 per barrel.