Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 8,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks amid spiking commodity prices, partially offset by losses in financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 6.80 points or 0.08 percent to 8,148.80, after touching a high of 8,179.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.00 points or 0.12 percent to 8,395.10. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining 2.5 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 3 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent and Zip are declining more than 3 percent, while Xero is up more than 1 percent and Appen is surging almost 6 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 2 percent and Westpac is down almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Newmont is adding almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is up more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.690 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Tuesday after a somewhat choppy ride, and the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high, as investors made largely cautious moves while awaiting more data for directional cues.

The Dow ended with a gain of 83.57 points or 0.2 percent at 42,208.22, the S&P 500 closed up 14.36 points or 0.25 percent at 5,732.93, slightly off the all-time high of 5,735.32, and the Nasdaq climbed 100.25 points or 0.56 percent to 18,074.52.

The major European markets also showed more moves to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.28 percent, Germany's DAX closed higher by 0.8 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended up 1.28 percent.

Crude oil prices rallied on Tuesday as concerns about the outlook for demand eased after the Chinese central bank announced a slew of stimulus measures to boost the nation's economy. An escalation in tensions in the Middle East, and reports of a new storm in Gulf of Mexico also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended up by $1.19 or about 1.7 percent at $71.56 a barrel.