Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving a tad above the 7,800 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders awaited domestic inflation data for clues on the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy path.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 23.70 points or 0.31 percent to 7,803.90, after touching a high of 7,805.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 20.80 points or 0.26 percent to 8,057.50. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent. Santos is edging up 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, Xero is edging down 0.4 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is slipping more than 3 percent. Zip is surging almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging down 0.3 percent and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Newmont and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Platinum Asset Management plunged 21 percent on reports the struggling investment firm lost $1.4 billion in mandated funds from an undisclosed client who indicated intend to "rebalance its exposure away from benchmark agnostic global equity managers."

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw modest strength throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday before coming under pressure in the final hour of the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, finishing the day in negative territory.

After climbing by more than 100 points earlier in the day, the Dow ended the session down 31.31 points or 0.1 percent at 39,282.33. The Nasdaq also fell 68.77 points or 0.4 percent to 16,315.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 14.61 points or 0.3 percent to 5,203.58.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday with traders assessing oil demand and supply positions amid the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.33 at $81.62 a barrel.