The Australian market is significantly higher | Nasdaq

(RTTNews) – The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Friday, recovering losses from the previous two sessions, following generally positive signals from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is closing in on the 8,400 level, with gains across most sectors, led by mining, financials and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gained 67.00 points or 0.81 per cent to 8,390.00, after touching a high of 8,323.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 65.50 points or 0.77 percent at 8,632.50. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among the major mining companies, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto each gain almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is up more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy gains more than 2 percent and Origin Energy more than 1 percent, while Beach Energy and Santos each add almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is up almost 3 percent, Zip adds almost 1 percent and Xero is up 0.2 percent, while Appen loses more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global drop of more than 9 percent after the logistics software maker. slashed its annual profit and revenue forecasts.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank Westpac and National Australia Bank each gained almost 1 per cent, while ANZ Banking gained 0.4 per cent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining rose 0.5 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources added more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources gains almost 1 percent.

Separately, shares of Megaport fell nearly 11 percent, even as the software company reaffirmed its annual profit forecast.

Shares of a2 Milk Co. jumped nearly 14 percent after it raised its annual revenue forecast and announced it would begin paying dividends.

In economic news, Australia’s manufacturing sector continued to contract in November, albeit at a slower pace, the latest Judo Bank survey showed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.4. That’s up from 47.3 in October, although it remains below the boom or bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell to 49.6 from 51.0 the previous month. The composite PMI fell to 49.4 in November from 50.2 in October.

On the foreign exchange market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.652 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility early in Thursday’s session, but mostly moved higher throughout the trading day. The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, with the Dow posting a remarkable gain.

The Dow Jones jumped 461.88 points or 1.1 percent to 43,870.35 and the S&P 500 climbed 31.60 points or 0.5 percent to 5,948.71, while the Nasdaq, at strong technology component, recorded a much more modest gain, up 6.28 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 18 972.42. .

The main European markets also moved higher on the day. While the French CAC 40 index edged up 0.2 percent, the German DAX index and the British FTSE 100 index gained 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday on concerns over weak demand and data showing a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December slipped $0.52 or 0.75 percent to $68.87 a barrel.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.