Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, snapping a six-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 9,100 level, with strong gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 45.70 points or 0.51 percent to 9,099.50, after touching a high of 9,111.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 53.20 points or 0.58 percent to 9,308.40. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 2 percent, Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent, Fortescue is advancing almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are down almost 1 percent each. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is jumping more than 6 percent, Xero is adding more than 2 percent, Appen is surging more than 5 percent and Zip is soaring almost 18 percent after reporting upbeat results.

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

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are jumping almost 9 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are surging more than 7 percent each. Genesis Minerals is soaring almost 10 percent.

In other news, shares in Medibank Private are tumbling more than 8 percent after it said membership growth slowed last year amid cost-of-living pressures.

Shares in Super Retail Group are soaring almost 17 percent after the Rebel and Macpac owner's earnings beat expectations.

Shares in Universal Store Holdings surging more than 12 percent after it reported sales growth at its youth fashion outlets, while profit declined.

Shares in Beacon Minerals are advancing almost 9 percent after reporting a huge 325 percent jump in Lady Ida's Iguana Deposit ore reserves and outlines big plans in 2026.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a modest move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday following the pullback seen over the past few sessions. The major averages gave back some ground after an early advance but still ended the day in positive territory.

The Dow climbed 119.65 points or 0.2 percent to 53,463.05, the Nasdaq rose 41.38 points or 0.2 percent to 26,331.09 and the S&P 500 edged up 16.22 points or 0.2 percent to 7,707.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day little changed and mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday as the closure of Strait of Hormuz continues, extending supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.18 or 1.39 percent at $86.12 per barrel.