The Australian market continues its upward trend on Thursday, building on gains from the previous session despite generally negative signals from Wall Street the night before. The S&P/ASX 200 Index trades comfortably above the 8,450-mark, bolstered by increases across various sectors, particularly mining and energy.
Recent reports indicate that core inflation decreased more than anticipated in the last quarter of 2024, prompting speculation about a potential quarter-point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia in February.
Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 30.70 points, or 0.36%, to reach 8,477.70, after peaking at 8,479.40 earlier. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index increased by 31.70 points, or 0.36%, to 8,732.40. Australian markets saw significant gains on Wednesday.
In the mining sector, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals both show nearly a 1% rise, with Rio Tinto climbing over 1%. However, Mineral Resources is experiencing a 4.2% decline.
Oil companies are mostly on the rise, with Woodside Energy, Santos, and Beach Energy each up nearly 1%, while Origin Energy remains unchanged.
Within the technology arena, WiseTech Global sees a slight increase of 0.4%, whereas Xero dips by 0.1%. Appen falls by almost 9%, and Zip drops by over 19%, in spite of reporting positive results. Block, which owns Afterpay, has paused trading.
Among Australia's top four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac are each up by 0.1% to 0.5%, while National Australia Bank advances nearly 1%. Gold mining companies show mixed results, with Gold Road Resources rising almost 2% and Evolution Mining more than 1%, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are up by 0.2% to 0.4%. In contrast, Resolute Mining falls nearly 2%.
The Australian dollar is valued at $0.624 against the US dollar on Thursday.
On Wall Street, Wednesday's session saw stocks largely decline, partly reversing significant gains from the previous session. Although indices recovered somewhat late in the day, they still closed in the red. The Nasdaq dropped by 101.26 points, or 0.5%, to 19,632.32; the S&P 500 decreased by 28.39 points, or 0.5%, to 6,039.31; and the Dow Jones fell by 136.83 points, or 0.3%, to 44,713.52.
In Europe, the markets showed mixed results. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3%, whereas the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3%, and the German DAX Index increased by 1.0%.
Crude oil prices faced a decline on Wednesday after U.S. inventory data revealed a rise last week, coupled with ongoing concerns about oil demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude ended the day down $1.15, or 1.56%, at $72.62 per barrel.
