FX.co ★ Australian Market Significantly Higher

The Australian stock market extended its gains from the previous session, closing significantly higher on Friday, buoyed by mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 pushed well above the 7,900 mark, led by robust performances in the mining and technology sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 68.50 points, or 0.87%, to 7,958.10, peaking at 7,959.00 earlier in the day. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index advanced 68.50 points, or 0.84%, to 8,201.90, following a strong finish on Thursday.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto gained almost 1%, Fortescue Metals edged up 0.5%, and Mineral Resources added more than 2%, while BHP Group dipped slightly by 0.4%.

Oil stocks posted gains mostly. Origin Energy, Beach Energy, and Santos increased between 0.1% and 0.5%, while Woodside Energy saw a near 1% rise.

Technology stocks also showed strong performance. Afterpay's parent company Block and Appen rose by over 3% each, while Zip added almost 2%. Conversely, Xero lost nearly 1%, and WiseTech Global declined about 2%.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac each gained almost 1%, with National Australia Bank adding nearly 2%. Gold miners generally performed well: Evolution Mining gained 2.5%, Gold Road Resources rose more than 2%, Northern Star Resources added 3.5%, Resolute Mining surged almost 6%, and Newmont advanced almost 3%.

In currency markets, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.676 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks experienced a notable downturn on Thursday. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulled back sharply after hitting new record intraday highs. The Nasdaq, heavily weighted with technology stocks, dropped 364.04 points, or 2.0%, to 18,283.41. The S&P 500 fell 49.37 points, or 0.9%, to 5,584.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, in contrast, remained relatively stable throughout the day and closed up 32.39 points, or 0.1%, at 39,753.85.

In Europe, major markets moved upward. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4%, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index each climbed by 0.7%.

Crude oil prices closed higher on Thursday, lifted by optimism for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, following positive inflation data. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August fell by $0.52 to settle at $82.62 a barrel.