Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology stocks and gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 15.30 points or 0.21 percent to 7,163.70, after touching a high of 7,184.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.80 points or 0.17 percent to 7,380.40. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, Xero is advancing almost 3 percent, Appen is surging more than 7 percent and Zip is adding more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.5 percent and Westpac is adding almost 1 percent. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding 1.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is surging almost 5 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing 1.5 percent. In other news, shares in Insignia Financial are plunging more than 11 percent after the funds management group posted a full-year underlying net profit that was down 15 percent from last year.

Shares in Ramsay Healthcare are sliding almost 10 percent following its full-year report. Dividends came in 48 percent lower than last year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending Tuesday's session mixed. The Nasdaq led the charge amid a rally by technology stocks.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 215.16 points or 1.6 percent to 13,721.03, the S&P 500 jumped 48.46 points or 1.1 percent to 4,436.01 and the Dow climbed 184.15 points or 0.5 percent to 34,472.98.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for oil demand after data showed a decline in global manufacturing activity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.75 or 0.9 percent at $78.89 a barrel.