Australian Market Slightly Higher

Recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is slightly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 7,500 level, with gains is gold miners and financial stocks nearly offset by losses in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.30 points or 0.10 percent to 7,501.40, after touching a high of 7,514.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 7,733.20. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Appen is declining almost 2 percent, while Xero and Zip are slipping almost 3 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each. ANZ Banking is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Core Lithium are plunging almost 11 percent after lithium miner paused mining from its Northern Territory mine amid the continuing fall in price of battery metal.

Shares in BlueBet are skyrocketing almost 26 percent amid reports the online wagering company is in talks to merge with fellow bookmaker BetR.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading session on…