Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well above the 7,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.00 points or 0.43 percent to 7,954.50, after touching a high of 7,959.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 37.70 points or 0.46 percent to 8,162.90. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is down almost 1 percent, Santos is losing almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global and Appen are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip is advancing more than 2 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent. Afterpay owner Block is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is adding 1.5 percent and Newmont is advancing more than 4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following a substantial move to the upside early in the session, but held on to strong gains. The major averages all ended the day sharply higher, with the Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

The Nasdaq soared as much as 4.5 percent in early trading before pulling back but still closed up 407.63 points or 2.5 percent at 16,708.05. The S&P 500 also shot up 88.10 points or 1.7 percent to 5,375.86 and the Dow jumped 419.59 points or 1.1 percent at 39,606.57.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 3.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Wednesday after reports suggested that OPEC may accelerate oil output hikes in June for a second consecutive month. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $1.52 or 2.4 percent to $62.15 a barrel.