Australian Market Trims Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market moves on Wednesday, but extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 8,750 level, with gains in mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 3.50 points or 0.04 percent to 8,761.30, after touching a high of 8,791.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 5.20 points or 0.06 percent to 8,956.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Beach energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are all losing almost 2 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.4 percent, Xero is declining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 1 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while National Australia bank is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 3 percent. Newmont and Northern Star Resources are advancing more than 4 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are adding almost 4 percent each.

In other news, shares in IDP Education are tumbling almost 7 percent after the company formally rejected an unsolicited A$2.50-per-share takeover bid from Blackstone, claiming the proposal to be "highly opportunistic" and failing to reflect fundamental value.

Shares in Myer are soaring more than 11 percent after the departmental store owner reported full-year 2026 results and announced that billionaire retail investor Solomon Lew is joining the board.

In economic news, the S&P Global Australia Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 in September 2026 from 52.0 in August, according to flash estimates, marking the first contraction since March. The S&P Global Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index also declined to 51.4 in September 2026 from 53.2 in the previous month, marking the fourth straight month of growth, preliminary estimates showed.

Australia's S&P Global Flash Composite PMI slipped to 50.8 in September 2026 from 52.7 in August, marking the lowest reading since June. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Wednesday.