Australian Market Notably Higher

The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid rebounding commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 39.90 points or 0.45 percent to 8,841.90, after touching a high of 8,857.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.70 points or 0.45 percent to 9,111.90. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 1.5 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 2 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while Zip is edging down 0.5 percent and Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is declining almost 3 percent and Westpac is down almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is rising more than 3 percent, while Resolute Mining and Newmont are adding almost 3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Light & Wonder are jumping more than 9 percent on upbeat quarterly financial results amid stronger gaming operations and record iGaming revenue.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Wednesday before once again coming under pressure late in the session following the sell-off seen in the previous session.

The major averages showed a notable pullback in the final hour of trading but managed to end the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 151.16 points or 0.7 percent to 23,499.80, the Dow climbed 225.76 points or 0.5 percent to 47,311.00 and the S&P 500 rose 24.74 points or 0.4 percent to 6,796.29.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday as concerns about excess supply and lower demand compelled investors to refrain from big moves. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.92 or 1.52 percent at $59.64 per barrel.

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