Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

Traders remain cautious as they await domestic inflation data that could influence the Reserve Bank of Australia's next policy decision. They also await the US Fed's monetary policy decision later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.60 points or 0.17 percent to 7,352.30, after touching a high of 7,339.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.10 points or 0.16 percent to 7,566.80. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while BHP Group is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is gaining almost 4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.2 percent, Appen is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent. Zip is flat. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. Westpac and National Australia Bank are flat.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.1 percent, Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent each, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Austal are plunging more than 9 percent after the shipbuilder slashed its profit guidance amid higher cost.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.678 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but largely maintained a positive bias throughout the session. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts, the Dow managed to close higher for the twelfth straight session.

The Nasdaq climbed 85.69 points or 0.6 percent to 14,144.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.82 points or 0.3 percent to 4,567.46, reaching its best closing level in over a year. The Dow pulled back off its best levels going into the close but still inched up 26.83 points or 0.1 percent to 35,438.07.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day narrowly mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled notably higher Tuesday on optimism about increased Chinese demand after policymakers pledged support to shore up growth in the world's second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September gained $0.89 or 1.1 percent at $79.63 a barrel, the highest settlement since mid-April.