By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The ASX 200 was slightly higher in Thursday’s trade, adding 15.20 points or 0.21% to 7,385.10, snapping 2 sessions of consecutive declines as higher gold and Iron ore prices boosted mining companies, while financial stocks continued to struggle after Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) plunged 8% yesterday following its earnings results.
ASX 200 Futures added 12 points or 0.16%.
Among stocks, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 0.42%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 0.61% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added just 0.06% as Iron ore prices lifted overnight. Gold miners also gained with Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) up 1.65%, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) adding 0.81% and Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) up 2.94%. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) also popped 6.73% after announcing an agreement to acquire the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine in Queensland from Glencore (LON:GLEN) for $A1 billion.
Technology stocks were mixed with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) adding 1.17% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) lifting 1.02%, while Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) dipped 0.17%, Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) fell 1.05% and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) lost 1.53%. Financial names also dragged on the broader market, with National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) losing 0.14%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) down 0.45% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) down 0.48% after losses of 8% in the previous session.
In currency markets, investors remain wary of rising inflation readings across the globe, pushing the US Dollar Index to fresh 16-month highs while the Aussie traded at fresh monthly lows of 0.7267.
On the bond markets Australia 10-Year rates were at 1.813%, while United States 10-Year rates were steady around 1.592%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.41% to 12789, trading near 3-month lows.