Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market moves on Friday, adding to the gains in the previous six sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 8,200 level, with gains in iron ore miners, financial and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 54.60 points or 0.67 percent to 8,200.20, after hitting a low of 8,129.80 and a high of 8,207.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 55.00 points or 0.66 percent to 8,420.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is up 1.5 percent. BHP Group is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining 1.5 percent and Santos is adding almost 3 percent each, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy is up 2.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is plummeting almost 25 percent after slashing profit outlook and Zip is sliding more than 8 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia are adding almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking Bank is gaining almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 2 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Corporate Travel Management slumped more than 10 percent after the travel company said it expects to report lower revenue and earnings growth due to the impact of tariffs on client demand.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.641 on Friday.