On the heels of improvements from the previous session, Australia's stock market has displayed notable increases on Friday. This trend follows the positive signals from Wall Street overnight and has taken the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark above the 7,600 level. Strong performances across a slew of sectors, especially technology stocks, have contributed to this surge, with the only dampening factor being a slump in gold mining stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has seen gains of 30.20 points or 0.40 percent, pushing it to 7,617.20. This was after it peaked at 7,628.20 earlier. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index has risen by 34.30 points or 0.44 percent to reach 7,883.70. This positive shift continues from Thursday when the Australian market closed slightly high.
Within the major miners, both Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals have seen near 1 percent gains, whilst BHP Group and Rio Tinto have marginally risen by 0.3 to 0.5 percent. Oil stocks are also on the rise, with both Beach Energy and Woodside Energy gaining almost 1 percent, and Origin Energy and Santos creeping up by between 0.1 to 0.5 percent.
Looking at technology stocks, WiseTech Global has gained 1.5 percent and Xero has added just under 1 percent. Additionally, Zip has surged by about 5 percent and Appen has grown by approximately 2 percent. Block, the owner of Afterpay, has soared by over 9 percent due to the parent company Square upgrading its earnings outlook.
Major banks, like the Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank, have inched forward by 0.1 to 0.2 percent, whilst Westpac and ANZ Banking have grown by almost 1 percent. Conversely, most gold miners have dipped. Both Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining have experienced nearly 5 percent losses, while Northern Star Resources is down by nearly 1 percent. Gold Road Resources and Newmont, though, have marginally improved by 0.2 to 0.3 percent.
In financial news, Judo Bank has revealed its services sector survey for April showing continued expansion, although at a decelerated pace, with a services PMI score of 53.6. This reduced level still remains above the crucial threshold of 50, indicating expansion rather than contraction.
Concurrently, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Friday.
Turning to the US, there were early fluctuations in stock trading on Thursday, but strong upward movements were reported later in the session. All major averages showcased robust ascents despite mixed results on Wednesday. Even with a pullback from their top levels at closure, the Dow hiked up 322.37 points or 0.9 percent to 38,225.66. Similarly, the Nasdaq soared 235.48 points or 1.5 percent to 15,840.96, and the S&P 500 hiked up 45.81 points or 0.9 percent to reach 5,064.20.
However, major European markets showed mixed results, with the FTSE 100 Index in the UK rising by 0.6 percent, while the DAX Index in Germany slipped by 0.2 percent, and the French CAC 40 Index descended by 0.9 percent.
In terms of crude oil prices, early gains were unable to be maintained, resulting in a minor drop on Thursday due to diminishing concerns over supply disruptions and rising worries about economic growth and energy demand outlook. The June futures for West Texas Intermediate Crude oil closed down by $0.05 at $78.95 a barrel.
