The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday after U.S. stocks closed mostly higher overnight, largely reflecting a rebound by tech stocks. Optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine also continued to boost the market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is advancing 11.80 points or 0.18 percent to 6,461.50, after touching a high of 6,470.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is adding 11.00 points or 0.17 percent to 6,662.10. Australian stocks closed higher for the fifth straight session on Wednesday.
Tech stocks are notably higher after their U.S. peers rebounded overnight. Afterpay is gaining more than 5 percent, Appen is rising more than 3 percent and Afterpay is advancing more than 1 percent.
Telstra announced a major restructuring, splitting its business into three separate legal entities that is expected to be completed in December 2021. The telecom giant's shares are gaining more than 4 percent.
Woolworths said it has joined the global RE100 movement and committed to source its entire electricity from renewable sources by 2025. The supermarket giant's shares are adding 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, oil stocks are weak after crude oil prices extended gains overnight. Santos and Oil Search are declining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum is down 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are declining in a range of 0.1 percent to 0.9 percent, while ANZ Banking is adding 0.1 percent.
Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is losing more than 3 percent and BHP Group is lower by 0.6 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent.
Gold miners are mixed after gold prices declined overnight. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent, while Newcrest Mining is lower by 0.6 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday, largely reflecting a rebound by technology stocks. Meanwhile, traders cashed on the rally by cyclical stocks seen over the past two sessions, contributing to the modest pullback by the Dow. Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued due to the Veterans Day holiday, as banks and the bond were closed and no major U.S. economic data was released.
While the Dow edged down 23.29 points or 0.1 percent to 29,397.63, the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 both closed firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged up 232.58 points or 2 percent to 11,786.43 and the S&P 500 climbed 27.13 points or 0.8 percent to 3,572.66.
The major European markets all moved to the upside on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday as data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended November 6, and on optimism about an effective coronavirus vaccine. WTI crude for December ended up $0.09 or about 0.2 percent at $41.45 a barrel.
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