{"id":11447,"date":"2021-07-02T01:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T01:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/07\/02\/australian-market-modestly-higher-7\/"},"modified":"2021-07-02T01:30:52","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T01:30:52","slug":"australian-market-modestly-higher-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/07\/02\/australian-market-modestly-higher-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Market Modestly Higher"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday, recouping some of the losses of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 just below the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors are also optimistic as restrictions were slightly eased following several outbreaks of the coronavirus<\/span> Delta variant across the country.<\/p>\n

The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index is gaining 25.50 points or 0.35 percent to 7,291.10, after touching a high of 7,312.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 25.30 points or 0.34 percent to 7,566.80. Australian markets<\/span> ended modestly lower on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent. Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent.<\/p>\n

Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices climbed overnight. Oil Search is gaining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are adding almost 2 percent each. Beach energy and Origin Energy are flat.<\/p>\n

Among tech stocks, Afterpay is losing more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 2 percent and Appen is declining almost 1 percent. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent.<\/p>\n

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent.<\/p>\n

Westpac has committed to reimburse around $87 million to 32,000 customers whose financial advisers failed to notify them of commercial information between 2005 and 2019.<\/p>\n

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n

In other news, shares in IDP Education are surging almost 19 percent after it agreed to acquire 100% of the British Council’s Indian International English Language Testing System (BC IELTS India) operations for 130 million British pounds on a debt free, cash free basis. India is BC IELTS’ largest market.<\/p>\n

Suncorp confirmed it will sell its 50 percent stake in RACT Insurance to its joint-venture partner, the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania, for $83.75 million as it seeks to slim down its portfolio. The stock is gaining more than 1 percent.<\/p>\n

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.746 on Friday.<\/p>\n

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance for a large chunk of the trading session on Thursday but managed to close mostly higher. With the upward move on the day, the S&P 500 reached another new record closing high.<\/p>\n

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up just 18.42 points or 0.1 percent to 14,522.38. The Dow rose 131.02 points or 0.4 percent to 34,633.53 and the S&P 500 climbed 22.44 points or 0.5 percent to 4,319.94.<\/p>\n

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Thursday amid optimism about the strong outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $1.76 or about 2.4% at $75.23 a barrel. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n