Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous session, Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to a tad below the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by losses in mining and energy stocks amid falling commodity prices on weaker than expected Chinese data. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.00 points or 0.26 percent to 6,995.10, after touching a high of 6,999.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 18.60 points or 0.26 percent to 7,195.20. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is losing almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent, BHP Group is declining almost 3 percent and Rio Tinto is slipping more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Beach energy and are edging up 0.3 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Zip is adding more than 1 percent, Appen is up 1.5 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 3 percent and Xero is rising more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining more than 1 percent and Westpac is advancing almost 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is declining almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is down 1.5 percent. Newcrest Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in James Hardie are surging almost 14 percent after the building materials company reported upbeat second-quarter results.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.643 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. With the continued advance, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in well over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 121.08 points or 0.9 percent to 13,639.86, the S&P 500 climbed 12.40 points or 0.3 percent to 4,378.38 and the Dow rose 56.74 points or 0.2 percent to 34,152.60.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as concerns about the outlook for fuel demand offset recent decisions by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $3.45 or 4.3 percent at $77.37 a barrel.