Australian Market Pares Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is paring its early gains in mid-market moves on Wednesday, but extending the gains in the previous three 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 across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The markets pared early gains following the release of hotter-than-expected domestic inflation data, which boosted expectations for a fifth rate hike this year.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.00 points or 0.08 percent to 8,857.10, after touching a high of 8,937.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.70 points or 0.14 percent to 8,981.50. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Fortescue is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are advancing more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is adding more than 4 percent, Xero is up almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing more than 2 percent and Appen is surging more than 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent and National Australia bank is edging up 0.5 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is rising almost 4 percent, Genesis Minerals is surging more than 4 percent, Newmont is adding almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In economic news, Australia's annual inflation rate accelerated to 4.3 percent in September 2026 from 4.0 percent in August, above market expectations of 4.2 percent, marking the highest rate since March. The reading also moved further above the central bank's 2 to 3 percent target range.

The trimmed mean CPI rose to 3.6 percent on year from 3.5 percent, in line with forecasts, while the weighted median eased to 3.4 percent from 3.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 0.8 percent, exceeding expectations of a 0.7 percent rise and accelerating from a 0.4 percent gain in August to mark its largest increase in six months.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.704 on Wednesday.