Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 8,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 11.50 points or 0.13 percent to 8,716.10, after hitting a low of 8,688.20 and a high of 8,717.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 1.10 points or 0.07 percent to 8,972.80. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent, while BHP Group, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent, Zip is slipping almost 3 percent and Xero is declining almost 1 percent.

Appen is tumbling almost 13 percent after the AI data services company reported downbeat second-quarter results, as ongoing uncertainty in the US AI market continues to weigh on performance.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia bank and Westpac are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent. Newmont is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in IGO are slipping more than 11 percent as operational issues continued to impact its Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery production, with full-year production finishing below guidance.

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

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Tuesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs before ending the day in negative territory.

The Dow fell 204.57 points or 0.5 percent to 44,632.99, the Nasdaq declined 80.29 points or 0.4 percent to 21,098.29 and the S&P 500 dipped 18.91 points or 0.3 percent to 6,370.86.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday as the U.S. deadline for Russia to finalize an agreement with Ukraine or face sanctions draws nearer. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $2.81 or 4.21 percent to $69.52 per barrel.