Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Snapping the four-session losing streak, the Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,000 mark, with gains in miners and technology stocks, partially offset by losses in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 19.80 points or 0.28 percent to 7,044.60, after touching a high of 7,058.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 22.60 points or 0.31 percent to 7,245.10. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto up almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent. WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Appen is gaining more than 4 percent and Zip is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent. National Australia Bank and Westpac are flat. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.4 percent and Evolution Mining is adding more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Core Lithium are skyrocketing almost 21 percent after the miner reported its upbeat maiden full-year results.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.643 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday after ending Wednesday's volatile session narrowly mixed. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.

While the Nasdaq climbed 108.42 points or 0.8 percent to 13,201.28, the S&P 500 increased 25.19 points or 0.6 percent to 4,299.70 and the Dow rose 116.07 points or 0.4 percent to 33,666.34.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index advanced 0.7 percent.

Crude oil futures failed to hold gains and fell sharply on Thursday, due largely on profit taking. Oil prices rose to one-year high earlier in the day after recent data showing a drop in crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $1.97 or 2.1 percent at $91.71 a barrel.