(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is rising on Friday after two straight days of losses and following the overnight rebound on Wall Street amid upbeat corporate earnings results as well as economic data and following moves by trading platforms to restrict speculative retail trading. Better than expected local economic data also boosted sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is advancing 50.50 points or 0.76 percent to 6,700.20, after rising to a high of 6,730.20. The broader All Ordinaries Index is adding 53.90 points or 0.78 percent to 6,971.50. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve flagged a potential slowdown in the economic recovery.
Tech stocks are higher. Afterpay and WiseTech Global are rising more than 1 percent each, while Appen is advancing almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are also higher even as gold prices fell for a sixth straight session overnight. Evolution Mining is rising more than 4 percent and Newcrest Mining is adding 0.4 percent.
Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is lower by almost 1 percent and BHP Group is down 0.6 percent.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank - are lower in a range of 0.1 percent to 0.6 percent.
National Australia Bank said it has agreed to acquire digital bank 86 400 for A$220 million as part of its efforts to grow its UBank digital bank platform.
Oil stocks are also weak after crude oil prices dropped overnight. Woodside Petroleum is declining almost 1 percent, while Oil Search and Santos are down 0.6 percent each.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that private sector credit in Australia rose 0.3 percent on month in December, accelerating from the 0.1 percent gain in November.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said final demand producer prices were up 0.5 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2020, following the 0.4 percent gain in the previous three months.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Thursday as traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the steep drop seen on Wednesday. Buying interest may also have been generated by a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 23. The Commerce Department also released a report showing U.S. economic growth matched economist estimates in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Dow surged up 300.19 points or 1 percent to 30,603.36, the Nasdaq climbed 66.56 points or 0.5 percent to 13,337.16 and the S&P 500 jumped 36.61 points or 1 percent to 3,787.38.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as worries about the outlook for energy demand outweighed recent data showing a substantial drop in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. WTI crude for March ended lower by $0.51 or about 1 percent at $52.34 a barrel.
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