FX.co ★ Australian Market Significantly Higher

The Australian stock market continued its upward trajectory on Friday, building on gains from the previous sessions. This rise is attributed to the positive cues emanating from Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 index has surpassed the 8,500 mark, with sector-wide contributions primarily from mining and technology stocks. However, energy stocks remain an area of weakness.

Specifically, the S&P/ASX 200 Index is up by 68.80 points, marking a 0.81 percent increase to reach 8,562.50, after peaking at 8,566.90 earlier in the day. The All Ordinaries Index similarly advanced, gaining 73.40 points or 0.84 percent, to 8,819.30. Notably, Australian equities ended Thursday's session on a strong note.

Major mining companies such as BHP Group and Rio Tinto have gained over 1 percent. Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals is up nearly 1 percent, and Mineral Resources has edged up by 0.2 percent.

The energy sector is largely underperforming. Origin Energy faces a significant decline of over 4 percent, Santos is slightly down by 0.2 percent, while Woodside Energy shows a marginal gain of 0.3 percent. Beach Energy remains unchanged.

The technology sector shows robust growth, with Appen rising over 5 percent, WiseTech Global up nearly 1 percent, Xero advancing almost 2 percent, and Zip increasing by more than 3 percent. However, Block—owner of Afterpay—is currently in a trading halt.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac have edged up by 0.4 percent each, whereas National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking have each increased nearly 1 percent. In the gold mining sector, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining have each gained almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is up nearly 3 percent, and Newmont has surged more than 4 percent. Conversely, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent.

Economic data reveals that Australia's final demand producer prices rose by 0.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2024, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is slightly below the anticipated 1.0 percent increase and down from 0.9 percent in the previous quarter. Year-on-year, producer prices grew by 3.7 percent, decelerating from the previous 3.9 percent.

Additionally, the Reserve Bank of Australia reports that private sector credit saw a seasonally adjusted rise of 0.6 percent in December, maintaining the growth pace of the prior month and surpassing expectations of a 0.5 percent rise. Annually, private sector credit increased by 8.6 percent.

In foreign exchange markets, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.621.

Meanwhile on Wall Street, Thursday's trading session was marked by considerable volatility, as major indices experienced fluctuation before closing in positive territory. The Dow gained 168.61 points, or 0.4 percent, reaching 44,882.13, approaching its record high set in early December. The S&P 500 rose by 31.86 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,071.17, while the Nasdaq increased by 49.43 points, or 0.3 percent, to 19,681.75.

European markets also trended upwards. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.9 percent, and the German DAX Index ascended by 0.4 percent.

In the commodities market, crude oil prices saw a slight uptick on Thursday, spurred by expectations of a supply drop due to potential tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, alongside support from a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March climbed by $0.11 or 0.15 percent, closing at $72.73 per barrel.