The Australian stock market is maintaining its early gains in mid-market moves on Friday, snapping an eight-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,750 level, with gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.
Traders also picked up stocks at a bargain after the recent string of losses in the markets.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 84.00 points or 0.97 percent to 8,749.80, after touching a high of 8,764.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 83.00 points or 0.93 percent to 8,970.60. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is advancing almost 4 percent, Fortescue is adding almost 2 percent, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is advancing almost 3 percent, Appen is surging more than 6 percent and Zip is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is adding almost 2 percent, while Genesis Minerals, Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Newmont are advancing more than 2 percent each.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in April, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.3. That's up from 51.0 in March and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.720 on Friday.
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Market Analysis
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.