FX.co ★ Australian Market Sharply Higher

On Thursday, the Australian market saw a sharp rise, continuing the upward trend from the previous session, driven by broadly positive signals from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index surged past the 7,800 mark, with notable gains in sectors such as gold mining and technology.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index increased by 92.30 points or 1.19 percent to reach 7,846.00, after hitting an intraday high of 7,854.20. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index climbed 91.90 points or 1.15 percent to 8,112.80. On Wednesday, Australian stocks had closed significantly higher.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals both gained nearly 1 percent, while BHP Group saw an increase of over 1 percent. However, Mineral Resources dipped slightly by 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks were mostly down, with Woodside Energy and Santos both edging lower by 0.1 to 0.3 percent, and Beach Energy declining almost 1 percent. In contrast, Origin Energy edged up by 0.5 percent.

In the technology sector, Xero advanced more than 4 percent, Appen added over 2 percent, and WiseTech Global along with Zip gained nearly 2 percent each. Meanwhile, Block, the owner of Afterpay, remained flat.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking, and National Australia Bank all posted gains exceeding 1 percent.

Gold miners also saw significant upward movement with Evolution Mining up nearly 3 percent, Resolute Mining surging almost 7 percent, Gold Road Resources adding more than 4 percent, Newmont up over 1 percent, and Northern Star Resources advancing more than 3 percent.

In other news, Aristocrat Leisure shares soared by 9 percent following the announcement of better-than-expected earnings and a 20 percent increase in its dividend.

On the currency front, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.671.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied sharply on Wednesday as investors responded positively to closely monitored consumer price inflation data. The major averages built on Tuesday’s gains, reaching new record-high closing levels.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared by 231.21 points or 1.4 percent to 16,742.39, the S&P 500 climbed by 61.47 points or 1.2 percent to 5,308.15, and the Dow rose by 349.89 points or 0.9 percent to 39,908.00.

In European markets, the major indices also saw gains. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices increased on Wednesday, supported by soft inflation data and a report indicating a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June rose by $0.61 or 0.78 percent to $78.63 a barrel.