Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving a tod above the 6,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with energy and resource stocks continuing their rebound from the recent heavy losses amid a spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.30 points or 0.14 percent to 6,505.50, after touching a high of 6,514.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.60 points or 0.14 percent to 6,706.10. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are adding almost 1 percent each. Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are higher. Santos and Origin Energy are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is advancing 3.5 percent and Beach energy is surging almost 5 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is gaining almost 2 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.4 percent. WiseTech Global and Zip are flat

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging down 0.2 percent. Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.4 percent, Evolution Mining is adding more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is up almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in infant formula company Bubs are in a trading halt ahead of an expected announcement regarding a new joint venture arrangement for the manufacture and distribution of Bubs' products in China.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before eventually ending the session mixed after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to end the day modestly higher, the Dow and the S&P 500 once again fell to their lowest closing levels since late 2020.

The Nasdaq bounced back and forth across the unchanged line in afternoon trading before closing up 26.58 points or 0.3 percent to 10,829.50. Meanwhile, the Dow fell 125.82 points or 0.4 percent to 29,134.99 after surging by nearly 400 points in early trading, while the S&P 500 edged down 7.75 points or 0.2 percent to 3,647.29.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index slid 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on reports producers have slowed down production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Ian. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $1.79 or 2.3 percent at $78.50 a barrel.