Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in miners and technology stocks, partially offset by weakness in energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.70 points or 0.14 percent to 7,139.30, after touching a high of 7,164.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.80 points or 0.15 percent to 7,330.70. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy is declining almost 7 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is flat.

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

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining adding almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Polynovo are soaring more than 12 percent after the medical devices firm posted record monthly sales of $7.2 million in May, including $5.2 million in the U.S.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the lackluster performance seen in the previous session. The major averages once again spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 46.99 points or 0.4 percent to 13,276.42, the S&P 500 rose 10.06 points or 0.2 percent to 4,283.85 and the Dow inched up 10.42 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,573.28.

The major European markets also moved modestly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to economic slowdown and interest rate hikes. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July fell $0.41 or 0.6 percent at $71.74 a barrel.