Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,600 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 15.70 points or 0.18 percent to 8,601.60, after touching a high of 8,611.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.00 points or 0.16 percent to 8,889.80. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent, Appen is down more than 1 percent and Zip is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent, while National Australia bank is edging up 0.3 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. Westpac is flat. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is up almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Newmont is advancing almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during Tuesday's session following the modest pullback seen during trading on Monday. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session before closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 30.58 points or 0.1 percent to 23,576,49, the S&P 500 edged down 6.00 points or 0.1 percent to 6,840.51 and the Dow fell 179.03 points or 0.4 percent to 47,560.29.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday as Iraq resumed crude flow from Lukoil's West Qurna oil fields while the U.S. dollar gained ground after job data from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.66 or 1.12 percent at $58.22 per barrel.