Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 8,800 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.50 points or 0.12 percent to 8,814.00, after touching a high of 8,817.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 9,083.30. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Fortescue is down almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is tumbling more than 8 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.2 percent, while Xero and Zip are adding almost 1 percent each. WiseTech Global and Appen are flat.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, National Australia bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are all gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are slipping almost 2 percent each. Newmont is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 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. The major averages added to the gains posted during Monday's session, reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Dow increased 196.39 points or 0.4 percent to 45,711.34, the Nasdaq climbed 80.79 points or 0.4 percent to 21,879.49 and the S&P 500 rose 17.46 points or 0.3 percent to 6,512.61.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index declined by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices advanced on Tuesday, extending gains for the second day amid increasing expectations of western sanctions against Russia, while the Israeli attack on Qatar added support to oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.29 or 0.47 percent at $62.55 per barrel.