Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 8,550 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 11.50 points or 0.13 percent to 8,567.00, after touching a high of 8,577.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.00 points or 0.11 percent to 8,784.80. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Fortescue metals and Mineral Resources are losing more than 1 percent each. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Appen is surging more than 6 percent, while Zip and Xero are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia bank and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd are up almost 3 percent on its listing price after the airline operator's shares returned on the ASX following the completion of its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

Shares in DroneShield are skyrocketing more than 20 percent after it revealed that it has secured the largest order in its history. It has received a package of three standalone follow-on contracts worth $61.6 million from its privately owned in-country European reseller.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Tuesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the course of the previous session. With the continued advanced, the major averages reached their best closing levels in four months.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 281.56 points or 1.4 percent to 19,912.53, the Dow jumped 507.24 points or 1.2 percent to 43,089.02 and the S&P 500 shot up 67.01 points or 1.1 percent to 6,092.18.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. Germany's DAX Index jumped by 1.6 percent and France's CAC 40 Index advanced by 1.0 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed only slightly above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as the Israel-Iran conflict cooled down after an announcement by the US President of a ceasefire between the warring nations. West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down by $4.14 to settle at $64.37 per barrel.