Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 9,150 level, with gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners, energy, financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 38.40 points or 0.42 percent to 9,166.70, after touching a high of 9,202.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 43.20 points or 0.46 percent to 9,402.20. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is advancing almost 4 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent, while Fortescue is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are all edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Xero is advancing more than 6 percent, WiseTech Global is surging almost 6 percent, Zip is adding almost 4 percent and Appen is jumping almost 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent. ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 2 percent. Newmont is flat.

In other news, shares in IDP Education are jumping more than 13 percent after the international education provider upgraded its fiscal 2026 earnings guidance. The board also declared an interim dividend of 3 cents per share. Shares in Sigma Healthcare are surging more than 6 percent after the Chemist Warehouse owner posted another strong half-year result from the retail pharmacy franchisor and pharmaceutical wholesaler and distributor.

Shares in Cleanaway Waste Management are soaring more than 8 percent after reporting upbeat results for the first half and upgrading its guidance for the full-year 2026. It also boosted dividend 19.6 percent.

In economic news, total new capital expenditure in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That beat forecasts for a decline of 0.1 percent following the 6.4 percent increase in the three months prior.

Capex for buildings and structures rose 2.3 percent, while equipment, plant and machinery fell by 1.7 percent. On a yearly basis, capex was up 7.8 percent., while building and structure capex added 6.5 percent and equipment, plant and machinery capex jumped 9.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset the steep losses posted on Monday.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 288.40 points or 1.3 percent to 23,152.08, the S&P 500 climbed 56.06 points or 0.8 percent to 6,946.13 and the Dow rose 307.65 points or 0.6 percent to 49,482.15.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a substantial rebound by U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery slipped $0.15 or 0.2 percent to $65.48 a barrel.