Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 8,400 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in gold miners, financial and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 51.10 points or 0.61 percent to 8,394.40, after touching a high of 8,394.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.60 points or 0.57 percent to 8,622.00. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue metals is edging down 0.3 percent , while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent, Appen is sliding almost 5 percent and Xero is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia bank are adding more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is up more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is rising more than 5 percent, Newmont is adding more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Mayne Pharma are plunging almost 30 percent after news that Cosette had raised concerns of a material change to the business's financial position since it lobbed its $672 million takeover bid.

Shares in Catapult are jumping almost 13 percent after reporting a narrower full-year loss on a 19 percent increase in revenues.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved back to the downside during trading on Tuesday after recovering from an early slump to end the previous session slightly higher. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling pressure remained somewhat subdued.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels going into the end of the day remained in negative territory. The Dow fell 114.83 points or 0.3 percent to 42,677.24, the Nasdaq slid 72.75 points or 0.4 percent to 19,142.71 and the S&P 500 declined 23.14 points or 0.4 percent to 5,940.46.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.4 percent.