Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, after the relatively flat close in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,850 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 53.50 points or 0.61 percent to 8,862.00, after touching a high of 8,872.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 53.80 points or 0.60 percent to 9,055.10. Australian stocks ended relatively flat on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is advancing almost 4 percent, Fortescue is edging up 0.5 percent, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is adding almost 2 percent, while Xero is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, while Newmont Genesis Minerals are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Evolution Mining is losing more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Tuesday following the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain.

The Nasdaq ended the day off its highs of the session but still closed up 233.83 points or 0.9 percent at 26,107.01. The S&P 500 also climbed 28.25 points or 0.4 percent to 7,543.59, while the narrower posted a more modest gain, inching up 9.63 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 52,508.27. The major European markets also turned positive over the course of the session after seeing early weakness. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved higher again on Tuesday amid concerns about the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.94 or 1.2 percent to $79.08 a barrel.