Australian Market Extends Early Strong Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is extending its early strong gains in mid-market moves on Thursday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,800 level, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 78.90 points or 0.90 percent to 8,817.70, after touching a high of 8,818.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 75.40 points or 0.84 percent to 9,085.50. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent and Santos is losing more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Beach energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Xero is advancing more than 4 percent and Zip are adding more than 3 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are advancing more than 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Thursday.