Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 8,650 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.20 points or 0.19 percent to 8,688.70, after touching a high of 8,701.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.50 points or 0.14 percent to 8,861.80. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent, Fortescue is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are advancing almost 3 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 4 percent and Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent, Appen is slipping more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is sliding almost 2 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is slipping almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Northern Star Resources are declining more than 2 percent each. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.713 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, adding to the losses posted during Monday's session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the S&P 500 dropping to its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly in negative territory. The Dow declined 328.09 points or 0.6 percent to 52,093.11, the Nasdaq slid 204.84 points or 0.8 percent to 25,981.57 and the S&P 500 fell 34.25 points or 0.5 percent to 7,585.73. The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as supply concerns mount after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $4.37 or 4.31 percent at $105.76 per barrel.