Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,600 level, with gains in gold miners, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.60 points or 0.43 percent to 8,643.10, after touching a high of 8,644.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.80 points or 0.40 percent to 8,935.10. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue is down more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is losing 1.5 percent, while BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is down more than 1 percent, Beach energy is declining almost 3 percent and Woodside Energy is slipping almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is adding more than 2 percent, Zip is surging more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 5 percent and Xero is gaining almost 3 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while Westpac, National Australia bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is up almost 2 percent and Newmont is advancing more than 3 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the value of new private capital expenditure in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted6.4 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$48.999 billion. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent and was up from 0.2 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, capex was up 6.9 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions. The major averages moved to the upside in morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon.

The major averages closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, continuing to claw their way back towards their record highs. The Dow climbed 314.67 points or 0.7 percent to 47,427.12, the Nasdaq jumped 189.10 points or 0.8 percent to 23,214.69 and the S&P 500 advanced 46.73 points or 0.7 percent to 6,812.61.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both advance by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday as doubts were cast on the possible success of the new U.S. proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.61 or 1.05 percent at $58.56 per barrel.