Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market moves on Wednesday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 8,750 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 55.70 points or 0.64 percent to 8,780.10, after touching a high of 8,784.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 47.00 points or 0.52 percent to 9,013.00. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are adding almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Beach energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent and Appen is down more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are slipping more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is surging more than 5 percent and Newmont are edging up 0.1 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.2 percent.

In economic news, the Australian economy expanded 0.3 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2026, below expectations of a 0.5 percent increase and slowing from a 0.9 percent expansion in the fourth quarter. This marked the weakest economic growth in a year. The annual GDP growth stood at 2.5 percent, below forecasts of 2.7 percent.

The services sector in Australia slipped into the red in May, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 48.7. That's down from 50.7 in April and it falls beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite PMI dropped to 48.7 from 50.4 in the previous month.

Australia's composite PMI was revised higher to 48.7 in May 2026 from 47.8 in the preliminary estimate and down from a final 50.7 in the previous month. It marked the second contraction in three months.

The Ai Group Industry Index for Australia's construction sector rose 9.0 points to -9.9 in May 2026, extending its recent recovery and notching a three-month high.

Australia's Ai Group Industry Index for manufacturing rose 5.1 points to -22.4 in May 2026, a three-month high that signaled modest improvement but left the sector deep in contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.718 on Wednesday.