Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,500 level to ten-month highs, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors led by gold miners and energy stocks amid spiking gold and crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.90 points or 0.56 percent to 7,531.00, after touching a high of 7,545.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 42.70 points or 0.55 percent to 7,758.60. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, BHP Group is adding almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, Beach energy is advancing 2.5 percent and Origin Energy is up almost 2 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 3.5 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent, Appen is soaring almost 14 percent, Xero is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is advancing more than 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Newmont are adding more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is rising more than 3 percent.

In other news, shares in KMD Brands are plunging almost 11 percent after the Kathmandu outdoor clothing brand owner said sales declined 12.5 percent from last year amid "ongoing weakness in consumer sentiment."

Shares in PEXA are also plunging more than 9 percent after the electronic conveyancing platform provided an update on its acquisition of UK business Smoove.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.675 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Tuesday and saw continued strength throughout the trading day. With the upward move, the Dow and the Nasdaq extended their recent winning streaks to nine consecutive sessions.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow advanced 251.90 points or 0.7 percent to a new record closing high of 37,557.92. The Nasdaq climbed 98.03 points or 0.7 percent to 15,003.22 and the S&P 500 rose 27.81 points or 0.6 percent to 4,768.37, reaching their best closing levels in almost two years.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending gains on supply concerns after several companies rerouting their vessels due to the attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January rose $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $73.44 a barrel.