Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higheron Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by losses in gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 40.70 points or 0.57 percent to 7,158.90, after touching a high of 7,173.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 43.50 points or 0.60 percent to 7,343.50. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent and Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Beach energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Xero is up more than 1 percent, Appen is advancing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent and Zip is rising more than 2 percent. Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are slipping almost 2 percent each. Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Ramsay Healthcare are surging more than 6 percent after it again announced plans to sell its Asian healthcare joint-venture with Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, regaining ground following recent weakness. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the Dow snapping a six-session losing streak.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but held on to strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 219.89 points or 1.7 percent to 13,555.67, the S&P 500 jumped 49.59 points or 1.2 percent to 4,378.41 and the Dow climbed 212.03 points or 0.6 percent to 33,926.74.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for fuel demand due to economic slowdown, and rising prospects of more interest rate hikes. Reports indicating possible excess supply in the market weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.67 or 2.4 percent at $67.70 a barrel.