Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 6,800 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as global bond yields and the US dollar retreated. Stocks gave up ground from the morning's highs after domestic inflation data came in hotter than expected.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.60 points or 0.14 percent to 6,808.20, after touching a high of 6,843.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.40 points or 0.13 percent to 7,003.10. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, OZ Minerals is gaining more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 3 percent, while Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Zip and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Newcrest Mining are up more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In economic news, consumer prices in Australia surged 7.3 percent on year in the third quarter of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - exceeding expectations for an increase of 7.0 percent and accelerating from 6.1 percent in the previous three months. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, inflation climbed 1.8 percent - unchanged from the second quarter but above estimates for 1.6 percent.

In other news, shares in Medibank are plummeting 17 percent on returning to trade after it warned of a $25 million to $35 million hit to first-half earnings from costs related to a data breach that compromised customer data.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.639 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the rally seen over the two previous sessions. With the continued advance, the major averages all reached their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages reached new highs in the final hour of trading but gave back some ground going into the close. The Dow jumped 337.12 points or 1.1 percent at 31,836.74, the Nasdaq soared 246.50 points or 2.3 percent to 11,199.12 and the S&P 500 surged 61.77 points or 1.6 percent to 3,859.11.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended the day nearly unchanged, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.9 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and concerns about supply after Saudi Arabia's energy minister commented that energy stocks were being used as a mechanism to manipulate markets. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for December ended higher by $0.74 or 0.9 percent at $85.32 a barrel.