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The Australian stock market is maintaining its early gains in mid-market moves on Friday, extending the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,650 level, with gains in financial and mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.<\/p>\n
The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index is gaining 45.30 points or 0.53 percent to 8,667.00, after touching a high of 8,674.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 47.40 points or 0.54 percent to 8,888.20. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is advancing more than 2 percent, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 1 percent, while Fortescue is edging down 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are down almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent. Santos is flat.<\/p>\n
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is declining almost 3 percent, Xero is down almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is jumping almost 15 percent after reaffirming its full-year guidance on steady AI demand.<\/p>\n
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent and Westpac is gaining more than 1 percent.<\/p>\n
Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are gaining more than 3 percent each. Newmont is advancing almost 2 percent.<\/p>\n
In other news, shares in Guzman y Gomez skyrocketing more than 17 percent after the fast food operator abruptly exited the US market, announcing it would shut its Chicago restaurants immediately after the business<\/span> failed to meet financial benchmarks. However, this will not affect its full-year dividend.<\/p>\n In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Friday. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n