Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to near the 8,450 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and technology stocks and a mixed performance in mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.00 points or 0.50 percent to 8,449.60, after touching a high of 8,421.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 46.10 points or 0.53 percent to 8,677.60. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue metals are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is advancing 5.5 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent, Zip is gaining more than 2 percent, Appen is adding almost 4 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Newmont are edging up 0.3 percent each. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Web Travel Group are soaring almost 15 percent after the travel company told investors it is "recalibrated and back on track" as total transaction values rose 22 percent in the full year to March.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply higher early in the session. With the strong upward move, the major averages largely offset the steep losses posted last week.

The Nasdaq shot up 461.96 points or 2.5 percent to 19,199.16, the S&P 500 surged 118.72 points or 2.1 percent to 5,921.54 and the Dow jumped 740.58 points or 1.8 percent to 42,343.65.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday on continuing concerns that OPEC may boost output at its meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery dropped 0.65 or 1 percent to $64.09 per barrel.