Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous seven sessions, Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 above the 7,600 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy stocks partially offset by losses in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 20.60 points or 0.27 percent to 7,620.80, after hitting a low of 7,570.20 and a high of 7,632.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 18.70 points or 0.24 percent to 7,853.70. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are advancing almost 2 percent. Santos is flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and Appen is declining almost 3 percent, while Zip is edging up 0.4 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are declining more than 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 2 percent. Newmont and Evolution Mining are flat. In economic news, total private sector credit in Australia was up 0.4 percent on month in December, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Wednesday - unchanged from the November reading. On a yearly basis, private sector credit gained 4.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer prices in Australia were up 4.1 percent on year on year in the fourth quarter of 2023. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 4.3 percent and down from 5.4 percent in the previous three month. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, inflation rose 0.6 percent - again missing forecasts for 0.8 percent and down from 1.2 percent in the three months prior. The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean was up 0.8 percent on quarter and 4.2 percent on year, while the weighted mean rose 0.9 percent on quarter and 4.4 percent on year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday after ending Monday's session firmly in positive territory, While the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a notable pullback, the Dow climbed to a new record closing high.

The Dow ended the day up 133.86 points or 0.4 percent at 38,467.31, while the Nasdaq slid 118.15 points or 0.8 percent to 15,509.90. S&P 500 bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing down 2.96 points or 0.1 percent at 4,924.97.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices moved sharply on Tuesday, largely offsetting the steep drop in the previous session after the International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast for 2024. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery jumped $1.04 or 1.4 percent to $77.82 a barrel.