Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 70.90 points or 0.99 percent to 7,266.20, after touching a high of 7,279.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 69.40 points or 0.94 percent to 7,475.80. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent and BHP Group is rising 1.5 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 2 percent and Santos is up more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 1.5 percent, Xero is adding almost 3 percent and Zip is advancing 3.5 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are up almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping more than 5 percent. Newcrest Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.691 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending the upward move seen on Tuesday. With the continued advance, the major averages reached their best closing levels in almost a month.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day at their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 268.91 points or 0.8 percent to 33,973.01, the Nasdaq surged 189.04 points or 1.8 percent to 10,931.67 and the S&P 500 jumped 50.36 points or 1.3 percent to 3,696.61.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on hopes for a global economic recovery and the possible impact of sanctions on Russian crude output. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February jumped $2.29 or 3.1 percent at $77.41 a barrel, rising for a fifth straight session.