Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid a spike in commodity prices, and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.00 points or 0.53 percent to 7,762.60, after touching a high of 7,764.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 42.90 points or 0.54 percent to 8,037.10. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are all edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 3 percent, Santos is adding almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global and Xero are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing more than 3 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.2 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Newmont are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 4 percent and Resolute Mining is surging more than 5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday following the lackluster performance seen over the two previous sessions. The Dow extended its winning streak to seven sessions, once again reaching its best closing level in over a month.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow jumped 331.37 points or 0.9 percent to 39,387.76, the S&P 500 climbed 26.41 points or 0.5 percent to 5,214.08 and the Nasdaq rose 43.51 points or 0.3 percent to 16,346.26.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday, lifted by optimism about the outlook for demand and on recent data showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.27 at $79.26 a barrel.