Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, snapping the three-session losing streak, 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 financial and energy stocks. Gold miner stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 57.80 points or 0.66 percent to 8,840.70, after touching a high of 8,855.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 54.60 points or 0.60 percent to 9,163.20. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 3 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Fortescue is losing almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and Appen are gaining almost 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent. Xero is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding 1.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is down more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is declining more than 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is tumbling more than 6 percent, Genesis Minerals is losing more than 3 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was well below forecasts for 4.4 percent and down from 4.3 percent in November. The participation rate was 66.7 percent - unchanged from November but missing expectations for 66.8 percent.

The Australian economy added 65,200 jobs last month - well exceeding forecasts for an increase of 28,300 following the loss of 21,300 jobs in the previous month. Full-time employment increased by 54,800 to 10,101,100 people, while part-time employment increased by 10,400 to 4,582,900 people.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.676 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. The major averages largely gave back their early gains in late morning trading before experiencing an afternoon resurgence and ending the day sharply higher.

The major averages all posted strong gains on the day, partly offsetting the steep drop seen on Tuesday. The Dow surged 588.64 points or 1.2 percent to 49,077.23, the Nasdaq shot up 270.50 points or 1.2 percent to 23,224.82 and the S&P 500 jumped 78.76 points or 1.2 percent to 6,875.62.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices posted gains Wednesday as traders assessed Trump's speech at the World Economic Forum, where he sought negotiations on the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.10 or 0.17 percent at $60.46 per barrel.