Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.20 points or 0.21 percent to 7,734.40, after touching a high of 7,741.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 20.30 points or 0.26 percent to 7,980.00. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Santos and Woodside Energy are flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, Appen is edging up 0.4 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent. National Australia Bank and Westpac are flat.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining, Newmont and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jufo Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 51.2. That's down from 52.5 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50. The survey also showed that the composite PMI faded to 50.7 in June from 52.1 in May.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks began climbing higher, and continued to gain in strength to eventually end the day's session a firm note after struggling for direction till a little past noon on Tuesday. Stocks moved higher after bond yields drifted down.

The major averages all ended on a firm note, with the Nasdaq outperforming the Dow and S&P 500. The Dow ended with a gain of 162.33 points or 0.41 percent at 39,331.85. The S&P 500 settled at 5,509.01, gaining 33.92 points or 0.62%, while the Nasdaq advanced 149.46 points or 0.84 percent, to 18,028.76.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.56 percent, Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.69 percent and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid easing fears about supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.57 or about 0.7 percent at $82.81 a barrel.