Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 8,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks. Technology stocks were the only weak spot. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 27.90 points or 0.34 percent to 8,258.90, after touching a high of 8,260.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 30.70 points or 0.36 percent to 8,502.50. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing 2.5 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy, Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Appen is slipping almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 3 percent and Xero is edging down 0.1 percent, while Zip is edging up 0.2 percent.

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 gaining more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent, while Newmont, Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are advancing almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.619 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 43.71 points or 0.2 percent to 19,044.39, the S&P 500 inched up 6.69 points or 0.1 percent to 5,842.91 and the Dow climbed 221.16 points or 0.5 percent to 42,518.28.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices came off five-month highs on Tuesday as investors shifted their focus on the possible impact of Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on imports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed lower by $1.32 or about 1.67 percent at $77.50 a barrel.