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The Australian stock market is advancing on Friday following the record highs overnight on Wall Street amid mostly upbeat earnings news from big-name companies and a continued decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits. Progress in the vaccine rollout and optimism about more U.S. fiscal stimulus also lifted the market.<\/p>\n
The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index is adding 67.40 points or 1.00 percent to 6,832.90, after touching a high of 6,846.70. The broader All Ordinaries Index is higher by 66.90 points or 0.95 percent to 7,104.80. Australian stocks closed lower on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak.<\/p>\n
In the banking sector, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank ANZ Banking are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is adding more than 1 percent.<\/p>\n
Oil stocks are also notably higher after crude oil prices extended gains to a fourth session overnight. Santos is gaining more than 2 percent, Woodside Petroleum is higher by almost 2 percent and Oil Search is rising almost 1 percent.<\/p>\n
In the tech sector, WiseTech Global is higher by more than 2 percent, Afterpay is adding almost 2 percent and Appen is up more than 1 percent.<\/p>\n
The major miners are mostly higher with modest gains. BHP Group is adding 0.2 percent and Fortescue Metals is up 0.1 percent, while Rio Tinto is declining 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Gold miners are also modestly higher even as gold prices tumbled overnight. Evolution Mining is adding 0.4 percent and Newcrest Mining is up 0.3 percent.<\/p>\n
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent on month in December, coming in at A$30.368 billion. That follows the 7.1 percent spike in November.<\/p>\n
On Wall Street, stocks closed at record highs on Thursday amid easing concerns about speculative trading and following mostly upbeat earnings news from big-name companies. Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing a continued decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 30.<\/p>\n
The Dow surged up 332.26 points or 1.1 percent to 31,055.86, the Nasdaq jumped 167.20 points or 1.2 percent to 13,777.74 and the S&P 500 shot up 41.57 points or 1.1 percent to 3,871.74.<\/p>\n
The major European markets<\/span> mostly moved to the upside on Thursday. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, although the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.<\/p>\n Crude oil futures extended gains to a fourth straight session on continued optimism that crude oil supplies will drop thanks to OPEC and its allies’ commitment to reduce output to stabilize the oil market. WTI crude added $0.54 or about 1 percent to close at $56.23 a barrel. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n