Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, adding to the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in index heavyweights and financial stocks partially offset by losses in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 23.40 points or 0.30 percent to 7,735.90, after touching a high of 7,736.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 24.20 points or 0.30 percent to 7,997.20. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.4 percent and BHP Group is declining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Appen is plummeting almost 16 percent. Zip is declining almost 2 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding more than 1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining, Newmont and Gold Road Resources are declining almost 3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Liontown Resources are jumping more than 11 percent after it agreed to a $550 million debt funding facility with banks including Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank, for lithium project expansions.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday after moving mostly lower over the two previous sessions. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but finished the day firmly in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq helped lead the way higher on the day, surging 246.36 points or 1.5 percent to 16,265.63. The S&P 500 also jumped 57.33 points or 1.1 percent to 5,175.27, while the narrower Dow climbed 235.83 points or 0.6 percent to 39,005.49.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices settled lower again on Tuesday on the U.S. inflation data and persisting worries about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April sank $0.37 at $77.56 a barrel.