Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.90 points or 0.48 percent to 7,271.70, after touching a high of 7,275.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.30 points or 0.48 percent to 7,462.30. Australian markets ended notably higher on Thursday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is adding 1.5 percent, Xero is advancing more than 1 percent, Appen is edging up 0.2 percent and Zip is up almost 2 percent. Among the big four banks, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is up almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are losing more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are declining almost 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks showed another strong move to the upside during trading on Thursday following the rally seen during Wednesday's session. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in about nine months.

The major averages reached new highs for the session going into the close of trading. The Nasdaq surged 188.27 points or 1.5 percent to 12,688.83, the S&P 500 jumped 39.28 points or 0.9 percent to 4,198.05 and the Dow rose 115.14 points or 0.3 percent to 33,535.91.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after recent data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a strong dollar weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $71.86 a barrel.