Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are slightly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving up to stay a tad below the 8,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy stocks nearly offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 6.60 points or 0.08 percent to 8,490.60, after hitting a low of 8,469.70 and a high of 8,492.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 5.00 points or 0.06 percent to 8,756.60. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are losing more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.4 percent, while Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 3 percent, Appen is losing almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent and Xero is declining almost 2 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent, Newmont is losing almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.5 percent and Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Bravura Solutions are skyrocketing almost 15 percent after the wealth management tech provider announced a special dividend, due to a turnaround in financial performance.

Shares in Computershare rallied almost 11 percent after the company posted a 28 percent increase in management earnings to $171.2 million in the first half of fiscal 2025, and raised its dividend.

Shares in Amotiv are tumbling almost 10 percent after the automotive parts supplier reported down beat results for the first half of fiscal 2025, as margins fell due to acquisitions, and higher freight costs.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the rebound seen during Monday's session. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line as the day progressed before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq fell 70.41 points or 0.4 percent to 19,643.86, the S&P 500 crept up 2.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,068.50 and the Dow rose 123.24 points or 0.3 percent to 44,593.65.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday amid concerns about a possible drop in crude supplies due to U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $1.00 or 1.4 percent at $73.32 a barrel.