Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly higher on Wednesday, recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 7,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks. Mining and energy stocks were also gaining from a spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 72.40 points or 0.97 percent to 7,574.00, after touching a high of 7,593.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 75.50 points or 0.98 percent to 7,805.70. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Friday prior to the holidays on Monday and Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, BHP Group is adding 1.5 percent, Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are gaining almost 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.682 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending last Friday's session narrowly mixed. The advance on the day represents a positive start to the final trading week of 2023.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Dow rose 159.36 points or 0.4 percent to 37,545.33, the Nasdaq advanced 81.60 points or 0.5 percent to 15,074.57 and the S&P 500 climbed 20.12 points or 0.4 percent to 4,774.75.

Meanwhile, the major European markets remained closed on the day in observance of Boxing Day.

Crude oil prices surged higher Tuesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over trade disruptions following attacks on ships. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February jumped $2.01 or 2.7 percent at $75.57 a barrel.