Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,850 level, with gains in financial stocks and a mixed performance across most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 8.50 points or 0.10 percent to 8,849.60, after touching a high of 8,856.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 7.30 points or 0.08 percent to 9,041.90. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Zip is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Xero is advancing more than 1 percent. Appen is flat

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.4 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is gaining almost 2 percent. Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.700 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside, but largely maintained a positive bias before closing mostly higher.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. The Nasdaq advanced 162.22 points or 0.6 percent to 26,269.23, the S&P 500 climbed 28.81 points or 0.4 percent to 7,527.40 and the Dow rose 150.37 points or 0.3 percent to 52,658.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after U.S. Energy Information Administration data on crude oil inventories indicated weaker-than-expected demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.09 or 0.11 percent at $79.25 per barrel.