Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving up to near the 8,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 23.40 points or 0.29 percent to 8,094.00, after touching a high of 8,100.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.00 points or 0.25 percent to 8,308.90. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Xero is edging up 0.4 percent. Appen is losing almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.638 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. With the upward move, the S&P 500 closed higher for the sixth straight session, reaching its best closing level in almost a month.

The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Dow jumped 300.03 points or 0.8 percent to 40,527.62, the S&P 500 climbed 32.08 points or 0.6 percent to 5,560.83 and the Nasdaq rose 95.18 points or 0.6 percent to 17,461.32.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply on Tuesday amid ongoing concerns that a weakening U.S. economy and the U.S.-led trade war with partners will hurt energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery plunged $1.63 or 2.6 percent to $60.42 a barrel.